A Bat's Human Rose
by RoseNightenDove
Summary: 1839 Japan. A samurai's daughter is a spy for Lord Koenma. Wanting to escape an arranged marriage she takes a job to follow the famed Yoko Kurama and his partner Kuronue. What happens when she gets caught? Can she save herself? Kuronue x OC
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1—Life as a noble spy

"But mother!" cried the eighteen year old young woman, her eyes ablaze with defiance. "I don't want—" Slap!

The young woman stumbled back holding her cheek as she stared wide eyed up at her mother. She should have known better. She averted her eyes, her hand falling to her side. She would never be allowed to continue her spy duties for Lord Koenma at this rate.

The young woman had been protesting her arranged marriage to another samurai's son. Her father was off fighting currently so it was up to her mother to set her up for marriage for her. Hiromi was to marry her father's best friend's son—a young man that made her want to vomit every time he came around or to stuff her ears full of sand every time he spoke. And here she was being expected to marry him.

All Hiromi wanted to do was to spend her life working for Koenma. Now that was a life Hiromi could like. It was full of excitement and danger. She was part of the system of spies he had recruited to work in both human and demon world. She got to cross over to the demon world and track particularly dangerous demons when she was free from duties here in the human realm.

Her mother's sharp words brought her out of her misery long enough to get her angry again. "You will do as you are told Hiromi! I don't care what you want. Bishamon is a great young man and his father is wealthier than we are. It would do our house honor for you to marry him!"

"But he's a brattling, cares nothing about possible battles. His father has to bribe him just to hunt. Not to mention—" Hiromi told her mother angrily before her mother's flashed and she rose her hand in a threat that Hiromi knew her mother would fulfill if she didn't stop speaking.

"Go to your room and get ready. Bishamon will be arriving with his own mother soon. I do not want you wearing those disgusting commoner clothes in front of them!" her mother demanded before turning away to go back and finish getting ready for the amazing arrival of the amazingly stupid Bishamon.

Hiromi glared after her mother and turned around, stomping the rest of the way to her room. If only Koenma could pop up with an important mission and save her from this misery. As she closed the door behind her—slammed more like—she looked down at her clothes and frowned. There was nothing wrong with what she was wearing. She had just returned from a run through the village and was wearing one of her oldest, most commoner looking kimono—a solid blue that played off her own blue-grey eyes and black hair. She was the only one in her family to have them now that her great-grandmother was dead.

She sighed and moved along; pulling out one of her more 'appropriate' kimono's in order to get ready for the hellish meeting about to occur. Its black material was flaked with a purple-pink color to resemble cherry blossoms. She shrugged off the blue kimono and pull on the black one.

"My, my, what a beautiful sight for one such as me," came a male voice that Hiromi knew all too well. She kept her back to the individual, a crooked smile filling her lips. When she pulled on the kimono and had the belt tied, she pulled her hip length black hair out of the material and began to tie it up in a pony-tail that would keep all of it except her bangs and two strands that framed her face out of the way as she spied. She did not feel the need to turn around until she was done because she knew that the man that was staring at her had no intention on her honor.

Hiromi turned finally as she stuffed her dagger into the sleeve of her left arm. The man before her was American in every way—from the blond-brown hair to the white skin to the deep hazel eyes that watched her with mischief present.

"Edmund, it is a pleasure to see you as well, though I don't think that you are supposed to be in our country. Weren't you just in Demon world for a special assignment or some such thing?" She replied casually as she went over to grab a decorative comb in the form of a rising sun and a tree that she slid into her hair near her pony-tail.

"I was. But I felt a longing to get the tar beaten from me by you once again, dearest Hiromi-san." Edmund replied before he walked over and took the comb from her hair and put it so that it was in a better position to hide the twin daggers that were disguised as decorative chopsticks in her hair.

"I do suppose I could give you just what you seek, if you'll help me get out of this arranged marriage." Hiromi said sweetly, batting her lashes at the man before laughing and swatting his hand away so that she could go back to putting on the appropriate make-up. "Or maybe you have a mission from my lord Koenma you'd like to pass off to me? I would love you forever if you did."

"Not a mission that I'd like to pass off, a mission directly from Lord Koenma himself. He's been kind of busy with a lot of paperwork so he sent me instead." Edmund said, grinning at the ecstatic joy that fell into place onto Hiromi's features. He had thought she would feel that way.

"Oh, please Edmund, get me out of here before I punch some innocent absent minded suitor!" she said, grabbing his arm that he offered to her with a laugh. And with the relaxation of her body she found herself falling into a portal to the Demon World, Edmund holding her to him so that they did not get separated before they landed.

"So tell me!" Hiromi pleaded with a grin as they fell through the portal. She was relaxed as if she was floating from one stair to the next, having preformed such jumps often enough before.

"There is a demon bandit and his partner that hasn't surfaced in a while—Yoko and Kuronue I believe their names are. It is said that they are going to strike in half a day's time. My mission is to get you to a place where you can follow them and discover their hideout. They've never been caught before and Koenma wants at least some information on them. Your mission is to follow them and discover said hiding place and return. If you can get a size of their operation, that would be nice, but it's very dangerous and Koenma doesn't want you to risk anything this time." Edmund said, practically transforming from the laughing school boy to a hard professional that was reporting to a colleague.

"Apparently Yoko Kurama has a taste for human women flesh and Kuronue has a ball with tormenting them with some kind of mind control he has." Edmund continued as they touched down in demon world. She was so focused on getting the information that she didn't notice when they began to start walking, his arms protectively around her, into a demon town outside a large fortress.

"Then I'll follow them and make sure not to be seen. You may tell Koenma that I will return with the information in three days if not sooner. And could you ask him to find some way to send a mind wiper to my parents? I was supposed to be there for a wedding arrangement ceremony of some kind. It would be best for all that I was supposed to be off visiting a relative in a neighboring village or something." Hiromi replied, having also changed her demeanor into one of someone that expected trouble, but was ready for it. A spy with a mission at last. She had been antsy ever since the last mission.

"Then I will leave you here at the inn." Edmund said, stopping outside a demonic tavern, wings sprouting from his back as he stepped back. While he wasn't human, she trusted him with her life—only because Koenma trusted him and he had saved her hide once from a horrible fate.

She turned to see him fly away, her heart lifting little. She wished that she had wings like his—black, glossy, elegant. She smiled icily. That would be the day. The day that she was given wings would be the day that she fell in love with a demon. She turned her head to look at the tavern and exhaled a breath she found she'd been holding as Edmund flew away.

Hiromi closed her eyes for a moment, pulling up the spirit energy that allowed her to hide her human 'stench'. She wasn't as powerful as some of the spirit detectives that she'd met, but it was enough to make people leave her alone. She looked around once more with her blue eyes and entered the tavern without a word. Midnight would come eventually to demon world, and the fox and bat would strike.


	2. Chapter 2

Note from author: Welcome one and all. I've had amazing responses to the first chapter of this fanfiction, which I thank you all :D Great shoutouts to all you that reviewed. I will remind you all that I do have school that will keep me from fully focusing all my energies on any fanfiction, but you can except a release at least once a week if not more. Without further ado~ ROSEY

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><p>Chapter 2—A bat's prize<p>

Stealth. Hiromi had to be sure that she was being as stealthy as she possibly could be. Bending on her informants in the demon town, she had learned a lot about her targets. She did not like what she found.

Yoko Kurama was a powerful fox spirit in demon form and had the ability to call on any plants nearby with his demonic energy. Kuronue, his best friend and partner, was a bat demon with the skills to create illusions with a pendant he never let out of his possession. They both had amazing hearing it was said. What they did to women was something she had been made to listen to or else show the disgust and fear that filled her—and then she would have lost the respect of her informants and most likely lose the informants as well.

She closed her blue eyes to focus, bringing her spirit energy up to surround her in a robe like form in her mind. Exhaling, she opened her eyes and stepped out of her hiding place to start sprinting out after the two fleeing demons, using her spirit energy to propel her after them.

She was glad that Edmund had delivered a pair of men's trousers to wear under her kimono. She had the kimono open and flapping behind her as she ran, a black breast band all that was covering her decently endowed chest from the world around her. The trousers were in a deep black like her kimono and were a tad bit bagging, but fit well around her waist. Her black hair was flapping behind her in the breeze that was caused by her running.

Hiromi managed to stay a good three hundred feet behind them for a time. Finally they stopped and she stumbled to a stop before hiding quickly behind the nearest rock formation. It wasn't all that quick and she knew without having to see their faces, that they had seen some part of her or another. She just hoped that her spirit energy would convince them that it was a spirit detective going for a different demon. She waited five minutes and looked around to see where they were and what they were doing.

Hiromi's blue eyes widened as she first saw they weren't there, and then felt something hit the back of her neck. And then she saw nothing…

Hiromi groaned, her eyes opened up slowly to look up at the sky. She blinked a few times before frowning up at the sky. For some odd reason it was a black that she couldn't understand. Demon world sky did not go black at night—it was a mixture of purples and blues.

Her disorganized mind finally awoke as she tried to get up. Her arms were tied behind her and had fallen asleep during her slumber. The 'sky' was nothing but a blindfold that had been put on her face. It took her a moment to get scared.

Part of her mind was analytical, trying to decide the likelihood of her getting out of such a situation before anyone came to punish her, or that she could get away with all her body parts. The other part of her was panicking about what had happened and getting mad quickly.

"Looks like our human has awoken at long last," a voice said near her head. Useless as it was she jerked her head to look in the direction it sounded like the voice had come from. It was male with a light crispness that she had imagined Yoko Kurama to have after watching him from behind for their run. She waited for the blows to come. Humans were not looked highly upon by demons after all.

"Do you think it talks? I'd like to see what such a thing sounds like." Came another voice to her left this time, down at her feet, or so she thought.

"Release me and I'll show you just how I sound." Hiromi spat, glad to find that her mouth was not gagged. Obviously they weren't afraid of her screaming out for help, which didn't bode well for her.

"Sounds feisty. Just what are you offering lass?" came the second voice—the one she identified as Kuronue. At least, she hoped it was Kuronue. Nah, she hoped it was different demons that she could get away from easier.

If Hiromi could glare, she would have. Her arms were beginning to awaken as she lay there wriggling in her bounds. She was just about to give up when the bindings tightened up and suddenly thorns were stabbing her in the wrist. She cried out before biting her bottom lip. She couldn't show them weakness! She couldn't! Then she felt her mind drift again. She struggled against it, confused before she realized what was happening.

She fought even harder, yelling all the insults that she could at the demons, her voice slowly slurring as she lost consciousness from the poison that raged in her veins due to Kurama's bindings.

Kuronue rose from the crouch that he was in as she stopped struggling. He frowned down at the body of the young woman. They had laid her out on her kimono and the human's stomach and chest were bare except for the breast bad. If she wasn't so foul mouthed he might have found her beautiful—for a powerless human.

"Was that really necessary Yoko? She'll be even harder to break now." Kuronue said before picking the young woman up and tossing her like a bag of potatoes over his shoulder. She lay limply over his shoulder, breathing gently on his wings.

"She'll break just like every other spy we've gotten. You'll just have to do it differently. You have so much fun breaking those human's, it's insane." Yoko retorted before turning towards the way home. "Come along. That poison will only remain in her system for another day or so. I'd rather not fight her all the way home." And with that said, he jumped off, running at his full speed, knowing that Kuronue would keep up, or come home alone.

Two days later, Hiromi found herself in a twelve by twelve foot room, locked in and alone. She had righted her kimono to hide her top body but was ready to run whenever there was a chance. She hadn't seen anyone during her stay in this room. She had awoken in it that morning with a tray of food on a table across the room from the bed she lay on. She'd gobbled it down without a question, as she gazed at her room, figuring out what was what and where she might be able to work with to get out of the room and back to Koenma.

She'd even tried to call out and summon Koenma, only to find that it didn't work—that or Koenma didn't want to come pick her up yet. She didn't care really. She was independent and wanted to find a way to get out of this place on her own.

The only light in her room was a candle that burned brightly next to the door. Finally, after kicking the wall in frustration, she sat back on the bed and waited. She did not have long to wait however. It was like he had been waiting for her to stop trying to escape to enter.

The demon was tall with black wings on his back and long black hair that almost rivaled her own but was a bit shorter—to just below his shoulder blades. His blue-purple eyes surveyed her carefully before he closed the door behind him and leaned back against it so that she couldn't get around him.

_At least he's not stupid._ Hiromi thought to herself as she rose from the bed. While a stupid demon would have helped, it could also have been a horrible complication. Stupid demons lumbered around and went straight for what he wanted. Hiromi needed some challenge to feel this mission had been a success.

"I see you have awoken and eaten already." Kuronue told her with a tilt of his head to the tray. "It's bold of you to eat something from your captors without waiting to make sure it wasn't poisoned."

"It would be stupid of you to poison me when you've gone to such lengths to make me comfortable. Most demons would have thrown me into a cell. You put me in a bed." Hiromi pointed out, motioning to the bed.

"Touché." Kuronue said, a grin breaking across his face. "I want more from you than a slow death. But first, why not tell me your name girl." It was no question or suggestion, but a demand.

"Why should I tell you? You hold me captive. If I tell you my name, you'll own just a little more of me. It would be a stupid move to give you that, Kuronue." Hiromi told him, crossing her arms and leaning back against the wall next to her bed. With the darkness of her kimono, she almost blended it except for her eyes and light skin.

"Now, see, you know my name but I don't know yours. That isn't so nice, don't you agree?" Kuronue countered, tilting his head to the side to watch her.

"Now if you got everything you wanted, that'd make you one spoiled demon." Hiromi said with a snicker.

"Well then, let's see what you think of what I've gathered from you in just this few minutes and you tell me if I'm spoiled or not." Kuronue offered with a smirk. "I know that you can't possibly be one of the demon slaves, which means you must work for Lord Koenma. You think you are tougher than you actually are, that or you want to appear tougher because you don't want to get hurt. You are planning on stabbing me with that dagger in your sleeve—"He stepped forward away from the door and grabbed her wrist when he neared, pulling out the hand that held the dagger. He plucked it easily from her grip before returning to stand in front of the door looking at her, laughing on the inside at her angered look on her face.

"Please, I want something from you, and you will want to listen to me on this. It may be the only think that'll keep you alive." Kuronue continued, catching her attention. He saw a slight amount of fright in her eyes and he rolled his own. So she thought he wanted her body. Well, if it helped him convince her into giving him what he wanted, so be it. He vanished from where he stood and appeared besides her, throwing her to the bed. Quickly he followed up and straddled her body, pulling her hands above her head and holding them there carefully.

'Let go of me you hell spawn! Release me at once!" she demanded, kicking out with her legs, trying to get in a lucky shot.

"You will—oof!" he began before getting cut off by a sharp knee hitting his groin. He bit back some very nasty words for the woman, his grip on her wrists tightening reflexively. Gritting his teeth, he closed his eyes as he waited for the pain to go away. Hiromi had stilled under his hands after they had tightened on her wrists. She did not want to explain having broken wrists to her mother when she returned.

Kuronue opened his eyes and glared down at her. "You will either give me information on demons I ask you about, or give me your body and hope for a swift death for when I get done with my toys, they go to the nearest demon that wants them." Kuronue snarled, "In exchange for information you will be allowed to live for an additional week. How long you live is up to you." He released her and rose, slowly walking to the door.

"And I'm supposed to just trust you? You are a demon. You are untrustworthy. All demons' are. How am I supposed to know that once I give you information you won't just kill me then?" Hiromi asked, pushing herself up from the bed, rubbing her wrists. Her blue eyes watched him carefully. "How am I supposed to know that I won't be touched by the first demon that sees me here? I've heard the rumors about you! You take girls and strip them of their skin while having sex with them."

Kuronue stopped, blinked, and stared at her. "You heard that did you?" Kuronue asked, seeming truly astonished. He turned from the door to watch her carefully. "Well, what I do to my toys isn't quite as brutal as that, but it isn't like it's easy on them. But that's beside the point. Are you going to help us or not?"

Hiromi watched him as he watched her. While she most definitely hated most demons (kinds like Edmund being the exception), she was astonished and a little impressed by this one. He could make her do whatever he wanted and yet here he was giving her options. She nibbled her lower lip for a moment as he stood there and watched him watch her. Survival instinct demanded that she just bow before him. And she would, but not the way her instincts demanded that she did.

"A few questions first. What's to keep me from running away? What's going to keep your other demons from attacking and using me? What will keep me safe while I am here? And what is to keep you from taking advantage of me? Surely you don't expect me to just roll over and play faithful dog." Hiromi asked.

"If you attempt to run away you forfeit all chances to stay alive and default into being a toy for any demon to use as he wishes. You will have a guard at all times, special picked, girl guards, that'll accompany you if you are to leave this room at any time. As long as you give us information, your virtue, which I'm guessing is what you want to protect for whatever silly human reason there is, will remain intact. No attempts on your life or virtue will take place. As for what's going to keep me from taking advantage?" Kuronue hesitated, a cruel smile falling onto his face. "You aren't my type. At all. Too high headed for me."

Kuronue held out a hand to her. "So do we have a deal?"

Hiromi watched him before slowly stepping forward to shake his hand. "Hiromi Yutorio at your survive, Lord Kuronue." She said dramatically, bowing low after he had released her hand.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3—A Spider's visit

A few hours later, the young spy turned informant met her new guards. As Kuronue had had said they were a group of five women demons. Hiromi stood in one of the corners of her room, keeping her back securely against the wall to keep herself from being completely surrounded. Her blue eyes watched each demon that entered to fill the room. Each was different than the next.

The first one that had taken to perch on the desk was rather short—no taller than five feet. Her blonde hair was pulled back to the back of her head in a braid. Decorating the braid was a ribbon that rippled as if alive ever time she moved her head. Her black eyes contrasted with the lightness of her hair and made up for her small stature by creating a look of evilness. She was introduced as Grethi, a demon that could make any threads that she saw do her bidding. Along with this ability, she carried twin swords that crossed over her back.

The second leaned against the wall next to Grethi, her eyes closing halfway, hiding bright green irises from view for the most part. Her hair was white against brown skin. Dark black tattoos ran up her arms and over her cheeks and neck. Hiromi learned that she could call these demons forth and have them do her bidding, each creating a different creature. She wore trousers that cut off at the knee, sandals that laced up her legs which also had tattoos one them, and a plain white shirt. This young woman was called Takji.

The third one had taken the position on the floor in the corner across from Hiromi and was watching her with hungry looking eyes. Everyone seemed to stay at least a yard away from this young woman. Even Kuronue completed the introduction from the middle of the room. When Kuronue rattled off a long name, the young woman grinned, revealing sharp fangs, silencing him for a moment. Her eyes were completely black—no whites around it, or differentiation between the pupils and iris'. Her skin was tanned to a light bronze and her hair was in a boyish cut, the black of it matching her eyes.

"You may simply call me Night. I never liked the name my mother gave me." She said, before her attention got caught on something on the floor, drawing everyone else's gaze to the floor. There, a spider was crawling towards Hiromi quickly—too quickly for any of the demons to keep it from reaching her. Hiromi felt a wave of chills roll over her spine as she stiffened. The spider crawled its way up her leg to perch carefully on her stomach. Hiromi stifled the urge to swat it away.

"If you wanted to see how squeamish I was, I would have gone with a snake." Hiromi said in as calm a tone as she could get. "Now, would you please ask your friend here to get off me?" She kept her breathing shallow, not wanting to cause the demonic spider to move any closer to her face than it already was. Night cackled with laughter and the spider dropped from Hiromi's stomach and scurried back to her lap where it sat carefully.

The introductions continued after that small episode, Hiromi running trembling hand over her arms to cause the goosebump's that had formed to go away. If there was one thing that she hated more than demons, it would be spiders.

The next young woman was a demon of poisons. She carried a scythe with her that she made sure to point out was poison tipped to make whoever got cut die a slow and painful death. She wore a breast band and a pair of low cut trousers that almost caused Hiromi to blush. Her hair was dark auburn and pulled back into a bun at the bottom left of her head, two chopsticks keeping it in place. Her name was Yukia.

The last was sitting on the bed; her eyes closed as she listened to the introductions and awaited her turn. She seemed to be the leader of the group of demons for she held herself as if she feared none of these demons that could have taken her on with spiders, tattoos, or poisons. She rose easily to six feet with shoulder length blue-black hair. When she rose, her eyes opened to reveal eyes much like Hiromi's only a deep storm grey. On her back, a long sword hung that looked well used and much loved. Her clothes were more like what Hiromi had worn in order to chase after the two demons that had ultimately caught her. She had a red and pink kimono tied to the side with a black ribbon with a pair of gold pants showing just over her feet which were housed in black boots. Her name was Audra. What kind of demon she was though was kept a mystery to Hiromi.

When the introductions were made, Kuronue turned to Hiromi with a mocking smile. "Why don't you introduce yourself and tell them why you are here and need their protection?" he asked, teasing her a bit. Why else would a human be there and need protection from other demons? Obviously he hadn't told his group of 'protectors' why she was here.

Hiromi swallowed back fear, though it raged through her body and took a small step forward—just enough to say that she would speak but not enough for any of the five demons to get behind her and take advantage of the situations to slice and dice her. "I-" she broke off to swallow and raise her voice which had been a squeak. Some of the demons smiled or snickered. Hiromi was glad to see that Audra did not.

"I am Hiromi Yutorio. I was a spy for Lord Koenma of Spirit world and have offered the information I know to Lord Kuronue." Hiromi said finally, holding herself tall to show that she wasn't afraid of them (even though inside she was terrified to be surrounded by so many powerful demons at once).

Audra stepped forward, the same amount that Hiromi did, and let a small, approving smile flick onto her face for a split second before becoming straight faced again. "We are Lord Koenma's best female guard. As long as you are here, Lady Yutorio, you will be under our protection and we will not let anything happen to you. You have my word." She said formally, bowing a little at the waist.

Hiromi was stunned for a moment. While she had known demons like Edmund that were kind and gentle and wanted to help the three worlds coincide with each other, she had not expected to meet any like that among Yoko Kurama and Kuronue's gang of thieves. She bowed in return, a little lower than Audra had, before locking eyes with the tall woman, who was a good five inches taller than her, and smiling in return.

"Thank you, Audra-san. I greatly appreciate it." Hiromi replied.

"We will be doing this in shifts. There will be three outer guards and one body guard with you at all times, Lady Yutorio—" Audra started to explain before Hiromi stopped her.

"Please, call me Hiromi. Lady Yutorio is my mother." The young woman said with a small smile at all of the demons. "I do not feel like being called a 38 year old woman just yet, please." She even got a few chuckles, though it would have been impossible to decide who had laughed. Audra saw a hint of approval in the demon's eyes as she continued.

"In this way, you will have four of us protecting you at once, while the fifth catches some sleep. Your body guard will stay in the room with you at all times, while the outer guard will stand outside your room. When you are outside your room, you will be followed closely by your body guard and at a distance of 10 feet by the three outer guards. Your body guard will stay with you for twelve hours at a time before changing to the next person." Audra continued with an almost military tone to her voice.

"I get to be your first body guard." Night said, her hand lazily running over the pet spider in her lap. "I look forward to getting to know such a brave young human. Foolish, but brave."

"I, Takji, and Yukia will be your outer guards." Audra said, smiling at her group. "At night, you will have only two guards—one in the room and one at the door to keep demons away."

"I appreciate all the information. Being treated like someone with a mind in her brain is better than how I am normally treated at home." Hiromi admitted with a grin before looking from Audra to Kuronue. While she had waited for his return she'd gone over the demons she knew about and had liked the odds she had had. That she could think of, she knew fifty demons that had well guarded treasures and another two or three demons that might be trouble for Yoko Kurama and Kuronue. If he accepted what she knew about each demon, she would be allowed to live for fifty-three weeks or so.

"When do you want your first demon?" Hiromi asked the bat demon, her eyes flicking to his wings with interest. She was curious about what they felt like. She rationalized this by saying that it would be good to know just where to strike if she was ever given the chance.

"Tomorrow after breakfast." Kuronue told her before turning to Audra. "Come with me for a moment Audra. I have something I want you to do." He started to the door before stopping, turning, and giving a grin that sent shudders go up Hiromi's back.

"Oh, little human," he said, almost as if he'd been meaning to turn back at the last moment. "You do have access to the other parts of the castle. You may even find the garden enjoyable during your stay. But remember. While you may make friends with these demon lasses, they have strict orders to kill you if you so much as attempt to escape." With that said, he turned and led the four guards out of the room, leaving Hiromi alone with Night and the spider.

Silence welled up between the demon and the human as they watched each others, Night's black eyes never leaving her as Hiromi moved slowly to sit on the bed. Hiromi felt as if she was about to pop with unused energy when Night finally spoke.

"I am not actually a spider demon." She said, softly, the spider in her lap disappearing into thin air. Her black eyes slowly changed before Hiromi who squeaked in surprise. Night chuckled as her change in appearance finished. The white part of the eye returned to her as the fangs slowly grew back into her mouth, returning to serve her as her canine teeth.

"Then, what are you?" Hiromi asked, curiosity getting the better of her. "Some kind of animal shifter or something?" 

"I have the ability to take on the aspects of any animal I touch. My personality changes with it. I just wanted to warn you in case one day I touch a snake. While I have strict orders not to harm you, sometimes I cannot control my emotions while in a different animal's shape—such as snakes. I get rather temperamental as a snake woman and for some reason cannot stand anyone that acts high and mighty." Night said conversationally as she rose from her dark corner and started to stretch her muscles out. "Say, do you know how to fight? Hand to hand combat I mean."

"I know enough to get a man to unhand me. And then I know how to handle a dagger." Hiromi answered, suddenly unsure of Night. What she the spider person, or was she this rather talkative, social character? Either way, Hiromi was confused and wanted to know what was going on.

"I'll see if any of the other girls is willing to train with you. We don't expect you to be completely defenseless while here. If we can teach a human, we might as well. It'll give us more information on what makes you… tick." Night said with a grin as she tilted her head to the side. "And it will be very boring if you have to stay in this room all the time. We guards would go nuts being kept in a cell like this."

"Cell? While yes, it's not a king's room, this is about the size my own room in the human world is. A prison cell for us is a six by six room." Hiromi said, suddenly feeling better as she made a realization. Like with Kuronue, she could trade information on humans for information on demons from the demons that protected her. When she got out of here she could report all her findings to Lord Koenma. Suddenly the next year and a week didn't seem too bad. At least her mission would be a partial success.

"A six by six room? That'd be even worse!" Night said, aghast at the thought of such a small room. Hiromi couldn't help but laugh at the look of pure horror on Night's face. Night cracked a wolfish grin and rolled her shoulders as she began to stretch again. "So, how does a quick walk down to the training room sound to you?"

Hiromi thought for a moment, before Kuronue's words repeated themselves in her mind. "You may even find the garden enjoyable during your stay."

While her father was a samurai, he wasn't one of the more wealthy ones and thus had had a relatively small plot of land compared to the much more famous and paid more samurai. Their backyard had had a pond and some grass… Nothing like the gardens she had seen in other people's backyards when they'd visited their homes or when she went on her spy training trips around the city they lived in.

"Do you think… we could actually go to the garden first?" She asked, hesitantly, rising from the bed and brushing off the back of her kimono.

Night grinned and nodded. "Of course Hiromi. Come along little human." She said walking towards the door and opening it. Hiromi grinned and followed. She had a feeling that despite their rough first meeting, she and Night were going to be friends soon enough.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Meeting the Fox Spirit

Hiromi looked around in wonder. It had taken them a mere ten minutes to get to the gardens that Kuronue had said that she would like. Along for the walk were Audra, Takji, and Yukia. They all seemed amused by the look of wonder that was Hiromi's features as she stared at the garden that was before her.

Plants of all colors ranged for a mile at least down a slope that she stood on the top of. Night came to stand next to her as she took in the mini-maze that was on one side of the 'garden'.

"This is like a forest. It's beautiful!" Hiromi told Night before she almost stumbled down the hill to get to the flowers. She darted from one to another, her gaze never falling on her surroundings. Koenma would have scolded her for this, but she was far too distracted with being so near living plants that she didn't care.

Night followed the young human who was fluttering like a hummingbird from one plant to the next. She only froze in her pursuit of Hiromi when another demon approached and waved her off. She hesitated before frowning. "Lord Yoko, I am sorry but I have strict orders to keep by her side at all times, even if Lord Kuronue or yourself are near." She finally said, alerting Hiromi to the presence of the other demon that was technically holding her captive.

Hiromi spun around, her hand snapping away from a plant she'd been about to caress. The demon before her rose easily to seven feet tall—much like Kuronue had. His long white-silver hair fell to his waist and hosted a pair of white fox ears. His eyes—golden like suns about to fall below the horizon—were locked on her, making her squirm a little.

"I am sure you do, Night." Yoko finally said, after he had finished surveyed the human for a few moments. "Fine. I do not have anything I need to hide. Especially from you and your group of spies." He rolled his shoulders and looked up as Audra neared with the other two.

Audra came to stand next to Night and whispered something in her ear. Night perked and looked at Audra with surprise before frowning. Their conversation, while hushed, seemed to have reached Yoko's ears which caused him to smile. While they were discussing whatever it was they were discussing, he grabbed Hiromi's arm and stared to lead her away. Yukia followed behind them, leaving the other three to discuss procedures.

"So you are Kuronue's little pet spy I hear." Yoko said conversationally as he led her to the maze and into it.

"Yes." Hiromi said, glancing behind her more than once to make sure that Yukia was there. While she hadn't gotten to know this particular demon, she felt that since she had somewhat befriended Night, that Yukia would protect her if Yoko Kurama tried anything on her. At least she hoped that that would be the case. For all she knew, Yukia would bow before this demon that was obviously a higher rank than her.

"No need to worry. Miss Yukia will follow you and keep you in sight as best as she can. I want to discuss you though. You like my garden?" He asked, escorting the human to the middle of the maze where a few tables and stone benches were settled.

Hiromi looked around, hoping that she had remembered the way that they had come. "I do. Where I come from not many people have gardens as extensive as this. I take it that you influence it with your demonic energy?" she asked, her natural curiosity keeping her form staying quiet under his question. Her reasonable side told her that she was going to have to live with these demons; she might as well get along decently with them, even if she hated demons. She'd first have to earn their trust in order to get time alone to call Lord Koenma in order to save her.

"Yes I do. It's one of the few things I can do that no one seems to have a problem with. Of course, this is an off limits place for most demons." Yoko said, leaving off to watch her think. "I like to keep this place to myself."

The implications from his words hit Hiromi like a brick. She hadn't even thought about asking _permission_ to see the garden. She'd just asked Night to take here there. What had she done? What if she had angered Yoko? She wanted to live, but had this been a mistake? Maybe enacting a suicide would be better than going through Yoko's torture? Her thoughts must have shown plainly on her face for two things happened at the same thing. Yukia, sensing the fear from Hiromi in waves, got between her and Yoko Kurama. The second was that Yoko Kurama started to chuckle and then laugh.

"Do not worry little human. As long as you don't destroy anything here, you will be allowed to visit, when you aren't needed to give us information on other demons." Yoko said after he had stopped laughing at the horrified look that had appeared on Hiromi's face. "You like nature I take it?"

Hiromi was still trying to collect herself when the next question took her by surprise. Did she like nature? She looked over Yukia's shoulder into the gold eyes that peered at her with interest. "I do, to an extent. Flowers, trees, grass, water. Those I like." Hiromi said after thoughts of torture pushed themselves to the back of her mind to fester.

"And what do you not like?" Yoko asked, watching her over her demonic protector. Yukia was not going to get out of the way until she was sure that her charge was safe from the demon thief.

"I don't like the spiders and the ants." Hiromi said matter-of-factly after several moments of silence. Yukia spared her a moment's look of surprise, remembering Nights attempt to scare the human. Her thoughts on the human's self control jumped several levels.

Yoko smiled and nodded in understanding. "I bet you'd hate the demonic spiders even more if you met one." He said conversationally before turning and taking a seat on top of one of the tables, beckoning her to take one of the other seats available.

"I already have. Night's pet spider was most interested in coming for my face, but I persuaded her to take the creature back." Hiromi told him as she moved slowly to sit on top of the table opposite him. Yukia took a protective stance next to her, watching their surroundings with mild curiosity.

Yoko and Hiromi's conversation continued on like this for some time—Yoko asking small or simple questions and Hiromi replying with answer she was sure would not offend the demon before her. About halfway through, Night and the other two demons assigned to the girls protection joined them, taking positions around the edge of the clearing in the maze.

It did not take long for Hiromi to relax enough to have a decent unguarded conversation. When she realized that she wasn't holding anything back, she became worried. Did this demon have some way to force her to relax? Fearing the truth of this, she stood from the table and put on a polite smile.

"It has been a wonderful time Lord Yoko Kurama. But I am tired and would like to return to my room. Thank you for permission to visit your garden." She said quickly before pushing herself off the table and starting to go. Yoko however had a different idea. Before she could move more than ten paces, he was in front of her, his large hands on her shoulders, keeping her from leaving his presence.

"For a human, you sure smell good." He said, an evil grin creeping its way onto his lips. Hiromi put on a brave face. She was not going to get fooled into showing her emotions that easily again.

"Lord Yoko Kurama, please release me." She said, her voice soft. She looked up at him with her blue eyes and locked eyes with the gold orbs he possessed. She kept her face free of all emotions.

"I don't want to. While you may have a deal with my friend Kuronue, you do not have a deal with me. If I wanted, your guards would find themselves outside of this maze with no way in. Now, you'll do as I say without a fuss." Yoko said, lust dripping from his words as he eyed her body. Hiromi's heart stopped for a moment.

Then, her eyes became steel as she pulled her dagger out quickly and stabbed him in the leg before he knew what was happening. As he hopped on one foot, howling about his wound, she stumbled back and then turned to flee. Her guards did not stop to help Yoko as she had feared they would do. They joined her as she ran through the maze, dodging vines that shot out trying to grab the human.

Takji summoned one of her tattoos as she ran close to Hiromi. A giant bird peeled away from her skin and flew next to her. Audra then picked the young human up and plopped her down on the bird which then rose into the air where no vines could get her. Hiromi screamed as she was lifted into the air, her arms wrapping around the birds neck to keep herself on the creature.

The bird finally landed outside of the garden's reaches just as the guards appeared. Yukia then took Hiromi by the arm and practically dragged her through the maze-like corridors of the building she found herself living in. Hiromi's heart was beating out of her chest as they finally slipped into a large room. Yukia pushed the human into the room and watched from a crack in the door to see if anyone was looking for them.

While Yukia did that, Hiromi turned to examine their surroundings. Her eyes landed on the one thing that she had been hoping not to see until the next day—Kuronue lounging in a chair. Her heart leapt to her throat as she stumbled back against the wall next to Yukia. The demon guard spun, her scythe flying into her hand. Kuronue watched with them interest, his head resting on his hand.

"Here not even a day and already you have angered someone enough to get Yukia to race you into the first non-threatening room she finds? That takes skill little human. Mind telling me what you did?" Kuronue asked with a small smile.

Hiromi opened her mouth a few times to speak before collapsing to a sitting position as the fear finally took hold of her mind and kept her from speaking. Yukia did the explaining in her stead.

"Lady Hiromi went to the gardens to relax and met with Lord Yoko. Lord Yoko took her into the maze and questioned her about different things for about an hour. Then she began to leave. Lord Yoko didn't like that so he stopped her and said something about taking advantage of the young Lady's body." Yukia couldn't help but smirk a little at what she said next. "And then the young Lady took out a knife she had hid in her sleeve and proceeded to stab Lord Yoko in the leg."

During this short recap of what had caused the running and chasing, Hiromi had tried to become as small as she could against the wall. Kuronue had begun to stare at the human that cowered there. He found it interesting that she could stand up to him earlier and then be reduced to a fearful mush when a man had threatened to take advantage of her. Or maybe it was something else, he pondered, before throwing that thought away for a rainy day. There were more important things he needed to do. He rose from the couch and moved over to the young human who looked up at him with tear filled, angry eyes. This caused him to pause a moment.

Hiromi glared up at him. "You promised! You promised that if I gave you the information I had you'd make sure that I wasn't harmed by any demon in here!" She snarled, pushing herself up slowly as she became angry-her normal reaction to being frightened. "You swore that as long as I didn't try to run away you would keep me safe!" She launched herself at the demon, punching him with her fists until Kuronue grabbed them, keeping her from further trying to hurt him.

Kuronue couldn't tell if the young woman in front of him, that was struggling to escape and attack him again, was doing it out of fear or anger, or both. He had sworn he had told Yoko that she was off-limits. He would simply have to make sure he understood the next time. This girl would be no use to him frightened and sitting in her room waiting for the next demon to try and attack her. She would answer more freely and be more willing to give them information—true information—if she was happy and relaxed, not terrified out of her wits by the advancements put on her by Yoko, the stupid demon.

"Hiromi, stop. Listen to me; you are safe now, all right? I will speak with Yoko again regarding the terms of your agreement and make him understand you are off-limits." Kuronue said as she struck him in the shin with one of her feet. He really would have to find a way to get this girl to _stop_ kicking him—another reason that she needed to be happy and not scared.

"I don't believe you!" Hiromi yelled, yanking herself away from Kuronue, moving to hide behind Yukia. "The only ones that have protected me were the ones you assigned to protect me. Yukia especially."

"Exactly. They will keep you safe. That is their job." Kuronue said, letting her go as he turned and walked back to the chair he had been lounging in. "As long as you stay near them, you will be safe. Believe me, you are no use to me with a spoiled virtue and unhappy." It only occurred to him after he said that, that he realized what that must sound like. He closed his eyes and tried to think of a better way to phrase it, but it was too late. Hiromi's eyes had turned to slits almost as she glared at him.

"Male demons are all the same! Pigs!" Hiromi screamed before darting out of the room.

Kuronue sighed and put a hand to his face. He was getting tired of this human already. He'd have to figure a way to get her to relax. Yukia hesitated in the doorway to look back at him.

"Lord Kuronue, if I may suggest something?" Yukia said, her voice light and crisp.

"Go ahead."

Yukia smiled and spoke. "If you truly want her to feel at home here, it would be best if you stopped treating her as an unruly child, and more of a young lady who is smart. She isn't just a commodity. She was trained as a spy by Lord Koenma. Do you think that he treated her the way you treated her just now?" she asked before disappearing after her charge.

Kuronue looked at the open doorway and smiled. This is what he got for hiring people that had once worked for the famed Lord Koenma. They knew more things about humans that he ever wanted to know about. Sighing heavily he rose from his seat once more and went in search for his friend Yoko Kurama.

He found the wounded fox demon in his room being patched up by one of the scantily dressed nurses they kept in the castle for such incidents. Kuronue's eyes scanned the body of the demon with approving eyes before he turned them to Yoko and a frown appeared on his face.

"Your little pet spy attacked me today. I do not think that you should keep her." Yoko said, looking at Kuronue with a scowl.

"The way I heard it, you tried to push yourself onto my 'little pet spy'." Kuronue said, standing a foot from the bed that Yoko lay on to get looked at. "I do believe that not an hour before I gave her my best guards, that I told you that she was off limits, even to you my old friend."

"I did not believe you." Yoko said simply with a shrug, as if it wasn't really that important of a thing.

Kuronue's eyes flashed dangerously. "Yoko, do not try such a foolish thing again. She is off limits to everyone, which includes you. If we are to get what we can from that human, we must make sure she is not stressed. If she believes that we will let her leave this place with her virtue intact, then she will be more likely to give us the information we desire. Do not touch her again Yoko. If you do, I will have to hurt you." He warned before turning to leave.

"Kuronue, why do you protect her so?" Yoko asked, stopping Kuronue's retreat. "What is so important about her that you risk a fight against me?"

Kuronue's back was thankfully to Yoko as his face softened for the briefest of moments as he thought of the human who was still angry at him. He couldn't tell his demonic best friend the real reason for it would only needlessly complicate things, so he put on a smirk and turned to look at Yoko for a moment.

"I protect her so we can get information on our enemies. She's important because I'm sure that once she is without information to exchange for her life, she will be a very tasty. Until then, keep your hands off her. The best fruit ripens over time." He lied before leaving his friend to be 'healed' by the nurse.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

While Kuronue was off telling Yoko Kurama to stay away from Hiromi, the young woman had darted from one room to another, trying to find an empty, safe hiding spot where she would not be bothered. She ran into three more demons that Yukia did a good job on getting to go away without trouble. Hiromi finally found her own cell and threw herself onto the bed, trying to hold in the angry tears that threatened to spill.

Yukia entered the room and closed the door so that no one else could get in. Slowly, she set her scythe against the wall and went to sit next to Hiromi on the bed. Her hand slowly moved out to rub slow circles on the girl's back as the dam of anger finally broke and Hiromi was reduced to a mixture of hate filled and fear filled tears. Yukia did not try to sympathize, or get her to stop crying. Yukia found that if one simply waited and let the person let the tears out then they would eventually let all of the fears they had pent up out and would speak to the person that was quiet rather than telling them that everything would be all right.

It was twenty minutes later that Hiromi found herself out of tears and out of sobs. That comforting hand that was on her back did not stop, but continued to move in circles that calmed her far more than anyone speaking would have been. She stayed quiet for a little bit and tried to figure out what she would say. She had to explain it. She couldn't just leave the silence could she?

Finally she heard the door open and she pushed herself up, wiping her tear stained face with trembling hands as she looked up, expecting to see the other guards that had protected her from Yoko's advances. She wanted to thank them herself. She would not be alive if not for them. Her breath caught in her throat as Kuronue entered the room. Yukia rose from the bed but did not leave her new 'mistress' side. She was debating whether or not she could get her scythe before Kuronue tried anything.

"Get out you bastard." Hiromi said, pushing herself from the bed to stand in front of Yukia, much to the demon girl's discomfort.

Kuronue held up his hands to stop the girl from advancing. His bat wings flexed a little to show his discomfort at being under such a powerful grey-blue gaze. If he hadn't known better he would have thought that this small but commanding girl was a demon girl in disguise.

"Hold on Hiromi. I just came here to offer my apologies. I just went to see Yoko and made him swear not to try anything on you again. I do not think that he will though. He seemed impressed that you had the guts to attack him at all. After all, he could have snapped your neck if he had been expecting resistance." Kuronue told the girl before grinning at her.

This admission did not make her feel any better. Hiromi had only been able to escape because her guards had risked their lives in order for her to make it away. Her blue eyes flashed angrily and she refrained from stepping over and punching the demon's lights out, that or find something (anything!) to stab him in the groin with. _Preferably something dull and spoon like. _She added mentally. As if sensing her intent to harm him, Kuronue stepped back and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Their tense standoff lasted a good two minutes before Hiromi copied his pose and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I will not work Yoko Kurama. Any information you get will be given to you in person or to one of my guards that can then report to you." She finally said.

Kuronue could and would accept that. But he frowned and looked behind him. Audra, whose hand had landed on one of his wings brushed past, giving him a split second glare before returning her face to one that was completely smooth. She stood in front of the young woman waiting for Kuronue to reply and held out a cleaned dagger.

"I thought that you would want this back seeing as there are so many brutes around this place." Audra said before taking a place against the wall, though she sent another small glare at the male demon standing in the doorway.

Hiromi held the night carefully and looked at it to see that the demon had taken the time to sharpen it as well. Her thoughts of the young woman demon went higher a smidgeon. She turned to look at Kuronue and sighed.

"Do we have a deal? I will not work with Yoko." Hiromi asked when she slid the dagger into its hiding place in her kimono's sleeve. It occurred to her then that as far as she knew, these were the only clothes that she would have for the next year or so until she gained her freedom.

Kuronue tilted his head and nodded, "Yes. That is something I can accept. After all, because I didn't enforce our deal you've been put into this position. I am sorry." He paused for a moment and looked at her face. A look of deep concentration formed on his face.

Hiromi met his eyes and waited. Did he need something else? Was he mentally undressing her? If that was the case why wasn't his eyes moving over her body rather than staying on her face as they were now. Then he turned around and left without another word and she released a breath that she didn't realize she had been holding. Yukia stepped closer to her ward and put a hand on her shoulder, looking down at her careful not to show anything on her face.

Hiromi jerked a little before relaxing. "I'm sorry I'm so jumpy. I'm not normally around demons this much, though I must admit that I don't really think of you as demons." She told Yukia and Audra as the other three entered and Night came over and started to check her body over for any wounds, like a protective mother bear looking over her cub. Hiromi couldn't help but smile and allow this inspection.

She saw Audra looking at her and she paused in her movements to go sit on her bed and think. Something struck her as odd about the introduction that she had been given by Audra.

"Did I hear right earlier; did you really say you were Lord Koenma's best female guards?" she asked suddenly, not feeling at all shy in front of these women any longer, at least not as weird as she had earlier that day.

The other four demons' eyes flicked to their leader who simply raised an eyebrow. "Lady Hiromi—"

"Just Hiromi, please."

"_Lady_ Hiromi," Audra restarted, stressing the word, though there was a twinkle in her eye, "we were Lord Koenma's best female guards until about one hundred years ago. Far before you came to work for him. Differences in opinion caused our change in employment. Since then we have worked for Lord Kuronue, and are loyal to him and each other and that is it. If you are going to ask to be let go because of our 'common' bond with Lord Koenma, you will be sadly disappointed." It was a politician's answer, not giving Hiromi any details that would have satisfied the young woman's curiosity that was only increased by this lack of information.

"I see. Well then I do suppose you will be sadly disappointed to know that I have no such plans. I know a good deal when I've been told it. To try to escape here would threaten my life. AS long as I'm useful, Kuronue won't try to harm me and will keep the others from harming me—or you all will, which I appreciate more than you can ever know." Hiromi said, a matching twinkle in her own eye.

Audra tilted her head. "You are very strange for a human. Some would believe, if not told, that you were raised by both demons and humans. I can tell you that that is what Kuronue believes." She told the girl with a smile, the first time she had smiled directly at the human. Takji seemed to perk up at that.

"You read Lord Kuronue's mind Audra?" Takji asked, pulling a tattoo off her skin to form a waist high, sharp toothed squirrel that ran up her arms and up her white hair before going down the other side. She sent the squirrel over to nip at Night's butt, causing a squeal of shock before it ran back and blended back into the skin of Takji, fitting in between other designs, nowhere near where it had originated from. Hiromi watched in amazement as she watched this happen.

"It was hard not to. He didn't shield at all. It was as if he didn't even remember I have the ability. If I know him, he got distracted by something before he came here. It' the only thing I can think of that would make him forget to mentally shield himself." Audra replied, smirking as Night growled at Takji, summoning her own spider to throw at the tattoo summoner.

Hiromi couldn't help but giggle at the chaos that was going on around her, but her mind was on what Audra had said. So she, as far as Hiromi knew, was a telepathic demon or a demon with telepathic abilities as well. And Kuronue believed that she had been raised by demons and humans? She didn't understand that but didn't keep it in mind for long. He was just being a silly demon. There was no reason for him to think that. At least none that she knew of.

The chaos continued and Hiromi forgot about the questions that had formed when she heard that her guard had indeed been part of Koenma's guards. She relaxed and laughed with all the demons. Before long she found herself laying on her new bed feeling more like her real self than she ever had in human world. IT was strange, she realized, that she wanted nothing more than to stay here for a long time. But in the back of her mind she could feel her life's timeline slowly tick down. She had one year and she would be handed off to whatever demon wanted her that Kuronue thought would do the worst to her, unless she could convince him to let her go after. She had realized somewhere during the day that they had never spoken about what would happen after she gave him all the information she possessed. This made her scared.

But there was something that made her scared even more-the next morning. She would have to decide what demon she would give information on. This wasn't the only thing that frightened her. Audra had let slip that the whole band of demons would be there at breakfast. She would have to walk into a room full of demons that were more than likely going to want to eat her. Night had sworn that she would not let that happen, and had had to be reminded that sometime during the night Audra would be taking over the job of the close guard while Night would be sent off for a day's rest before she was put on far guard. Night had frowned and offered to create a wolf to follow Hiromi around if she wanted—which she declined graciously, saying that it would only tax the demon that was supposed to be resting and protecting her.

Now she rested on her bed and was staring up at the ceiling as these thoughts ran round and round in her mind. She could no longer see, for the candles that had lit her room had been snuffed out. The door opened and she froze, about to turn over in bed and go to sleep. Night rose from her corner where she blended in, but did not attack. Hiromi forced herself to adapt a breathing pace of someone who had fallen into a deep sleep as she listened.

"Lord Kuronue, you should not be here." Night warned, looking over his should to see if the outside guard was there. "Where is Takji?"

"I sent her to go wake Audra and the rest of the group. We need Hiromi. There has been a rumor that a demon named Jinka is going to try and attack here to steal her away. I am hoping that Hiromi will have some information on this demon. It seems her job will be beginning now rather than in the morning." Kuronue said softly, as if he was trying to keep from waking the sleeping human. Apparently her attempt at being 'asleep' was working.

"Can this not wait until the morning, Lord Kuronue?" Night asked, her own voice copying his as she realized Hiromi must be asleep.

"No. We are just going to move her before any of the demons in this band know of it. For all we know, someone may have leaked the information in order to get money from Jinka." Kuronue said, stepping past Night and nearing the bed that Hiromi lay on. She stiffened as she felt his hands move underneath her shoulders and knees, picking her up to lean against him. She reminded herself to groan a little as if she was about to wake up before relaxing her body again.

"Where will she be moved to?" Night asked.

"The room I have hidden in my room where I keep all the important things. I've already cleared it out of the latest treasures. Only Audra, your group, and myself know about it. Yoko knows I have one but not where it's located, as I know he has one but doesn't know where it is." Kuronue said, while his voice rumbled against her ear as she rested her head against his body as any other sleeping girl would have done. He turned and started to walk out of the room.

"She may freak when she awakes. Hiromi doesn't like change I don't think." Night warned as she followed him out into the dim corridor.

"She will freak when she finds out that she'll be staying nearer to me. But I'm the only one besides your group that can protect her right now. And she is my guest. I won't let some filthy demon steal her." He told Night, a hint of true emotions filling his voice, as if he was remembering another time when something similar had happened.

Night paused and watched as he walked on down the hallway. "As you say Lord Kuronue." She replied, and followed along.

Hiromi's minds whirled. Yes, she knew who Jinka was, and was one of the demons she'd followed once. It was Kuronue's gentle nature that was surprising her. He could have roughly woken her like her father had so many times when she'd slept in past his 'normal sleeping patterns'. He could have made her walk, sleepy eyed to the room. Or thrown her from her bed. Or, worse of all, he could have killed her and kept Jinka from attacking for that reason. What did that mean for her safety here? Would Kuronue really protect her from all trouble? Her heart pounded in her heart as she was carried down the hallway by Kuronue.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

What was a girl that was pretending to be asleep in a demon's arms, supposed to do in a situation like this? She was positive that he would drop her and be angry at her for pretending to be asleep. Really the only option was to stay 'asleep' and relaxed in his arms and then, when he jostled her or tripped, or something, jerk awake and throw a fit like any other human would. A small part of her though reminded her that he'd been so gentle in picking her up and cradling her against his body. She almost didn't want to make him let her go. As she realized this she felt a growing sickness in the pit of her stomach.

He was turning a corner when she finally decided to 'wake up' and act surprised and outraged to be in his arms. But he came to a stop suddenly and she felt his chest vibrate with a growl. She shifted a little, as if adjusting herself into a more comfortable position in her sleep, and opened her eyes a crack to see what had caused the demon to stop. Her eyes flashed open at the sight ahead of them. Another demon stood just inside the doorway that would let them leave.

The only problem was that this demon was Kuronue. She looked up at the man holding her and then back at Kuronue and then back at the demon that was starting to shift into another familiar face. Black bat wings changed into black bird wings. Long black hair shifted into blond-brown as his eyes became hazel orbs against pale skin. His grasp on her tightened around her shoulders as he let her legs down. Edmund was being very careful on what he did for he had Night behind him and the real Kuronue in front of him, both of whom he had known at one point in his life.

"You will release the girl Edmund. She is my prisoner, not yours." Kuronue announced as demons exited shadows on all sides, essentially capturing her and her would-be rescuer where they stood.

"She belongs to Lord Koenma, not you." Edmund replied, glaring at the bat demon. Hiromi pursed her lips, suddenly angry with her sort-of rescuer. He knew how she didn't like to be told she 'belonged' to anyone. At least Kuronue had called her a prisoner rather than saying that she belonged to anyone.

"Well now you both are my prisoners Edmund. This was very foolish on your part. You know that we were going to find out that it was you before long. The fact that Audra was with me kind of blew your plan out of the water." Kuronue countered. Audra stepped out from the ring of guards and walked over, her hand taking Hiromi's wrist and giving a slight tug. Edmund's grip tightened around Hiromi's shoulders, almost to the point of bruising her.

Hiromi winced as the grip on her wrist and her shoulders tightened to the point of being painful. Did these people not realize how fragile she was? Or did they simply not care. As long as she could speak, she was valuable. It didn't matter if she had a dislocated arm or not. Finally the abuse to her wrist and arm pushed her over the edge. Kuronue had neared as well in order to make the tug of war go his way.

She wasn't really sure what she did next until it was already too late to change. She yanked her arm away from Audra. As Edmund stepped back, dragging her along with him, she stomped on his foot. Night rushed up and dragged Hiromi out of the way as Kuronue launched himself at Edmund who was trying to get away.

A scream welled up in her chest that was let loose as Edmund went sailing into a wall. The room went still as demons of all shapes and colors turned to look at the 'prize' that was being fought over. Kuronue stopped from chopping off Edmund's head a split second later, looking over to make sure that she wasn't getting carried off by other demons.

"If you hurt him, I swear to everything I hold dear you will never get me to talk!" Hiromi snarled, the intensity of the last few days finally too much for her to handle, making her savage as any demon might be. Night looked from Kuronue to Audra as she held onto Hiromi who strained to get at Kuronue for the second time that night. Audra gave a small nod and Night released her captive. Hiromi stumbled forward before she righted herself and went to Edmunds side to make sure he was okay.

Kuronue gritted his teeth as she helped Edmund sit up and was checking him over for wounds. Oh he wanted to knock that human unconscious for the second time in less than a week. He must have been giving an awful look for when Hiromi looked up at him to say something else, probably to defend her would-be kidnapper, she hesitated and seemed a bit stunned. He looked away from the blue orbs of the human girl and tried to decide what he was going to do. He wanted that information that she had. He could always torture it out of her, but he had a feeling that once she made up her mind, it would be very hard to make her tell him anything.

"Get your damn boyfriend up and take him back to your room. He will either become an informant like you or be killed. He has the night to think it over." Kuronue growled, turning, as if he knew that she would follow his orders without anything. When he turned a look of disgust reached his face as if he'd eaten something disgusting.

"He's not my boyfriend," the young human mumbled and helped Edmund stand before leading him to her room. Night followed silently. She was very angry at herself for not seeing that it wasn't Kuronue right away. Edmund held his stomach where Kuronue had kicked him, sending him flying into the wall.

"I may not be, but that's all that's keeping me safe right now beauty." He grumbled, feeling embarrassed over his act. He should have made sure that Audra had been out of the way first, not speaking with the real Kuronue. He'd make sure that Kuronue paid for this in the end. He knew Kuronue's weakness.

"Does Koenma know you are here?" Night asked, breaking out of her self-doubt.

"No. I came alone. I was worried about Hiromi here." Edmund said, looking at Night with a slight nod. "It has been a long time Night. What are you doing working for a bastard like Kuronue after all you did to make sure his kind were destroyed?"

Hiromi frowned as she listened to this, looking at the demon carefully. What had been their job under Koenma? Edmund knew these women that were her guards? From the way Audra had spoken it had been years before Hiromi had been born that she had changed sides. She hadn't realized just how old Edmund must have been.

"That was before Lord Koenma changed his policy Edmund." Night said, her eyes hardening for a moment before she opened the door that would lead them to her bedroom. Hiromi helped the man into the room and let him lay down on the bed before she punched him in the arm, much to Night's amusement.

"Ow! What was that for?" Edmund asked, looking dismayed up at the young woman.

"For being an idiot and coming here! I was doing quite all right for myself." Hiromi told him, trying to hide her worry for him.

"Oh? You are locked up in a room with a demon Hiromi! That sure isn't 'quite all right'." Edmund retorted as he stood to tower over her.

"Yeah, but at least I didn't have to worry about other people's lives except my own! Now if you don't become a traitor to Lord Koenma then you'll die!" Hiromi spat back, not cowed at all by his taller body. She'd been dealing with Yoko Kurama and Kuronue for the last twenty for hours. He was only five or six inches taller than her.

"There is no way that that will happen. I'm not a turn-coat like someone else in this room," Edmund snarled. He meant Night, but realized a bit too late that this young human had also turned against Lord Koenma and so the insult had meant her as well—not what he had meant to do at all. He started to stammer out apologizes but it was too late.

Hiromi's shoulder's drooped and she stared up at Edmund for only a moment before her hand darted out and slapped him hard. "What else was I supposed to do Edmund? Unlike you, I am human. The only way I could have survived this was if I did become a 'turn-coat' as you so put it," she said, her voice tight but icy cold, like her eyes. They had seemed to darken like a storm cloud. She turned from him and crawled onto her bed, back towards them.

No matter how much Edmund asked and begged her to forgive him, no matter how much he said he'd meant Night not Hiromi, Hiromi remained with her back to them. Little did they know though that she had fallen asleep after the first ten minutes, the exhaustion of the day finally taking hold of her and dragging her down into sleep. When Edmund finally realized that he'd probably angered the human more than he should have, she was far into the grasps of a beautiful dream…

_Hiromi found herself walking the halls of the great palace of the mayor in her town. She wore a beautiful kimono that was silk and far more expensive than anything she might have ever gotten from her own family. She was happy too. Somehow, the mayor had been able to create a garden that was just as beautiful as the one that the foul Yoko Kurama was able to create in his own palace. She was enjoying the view when a pair of muscular arms wrapped around her. _

_She wasn't shocked though. She had heard the footsteps that had signaled the arrival of the owner of the arms. She knew that it was someone she'd want to hold her as well. A small part of her was a romantic. This part of her made a wind whip up and send flower petals swirling around her as she turned to hide her face in the body of the man that was holding her. _

"_You look beautiful my love," the smooth voice said, making her look up. A small frown creased her brow as she stared up at the man. He had no face. Like so many of her other romance filled dreams she had yet to meet a man that would fill that role for her. And here she was once more. A small part of her asked if that was true? Was there no man that she had ever met that would fill this role? _

_Soon it slipped her mind as she went dancing around the garden with the man that held her. It was so peaceful. And then something tore the man away from her and hurled him away. Two demons, Edmund and Kuronue, stood on either side of her. She looked between them and frowned. _

"_What are your two doing here?" She asked, her head tilting to the side as she stepped back. _

"_Which way will you choose?" Edmund asked. _

"_Rogue, or spy?" Kuronue asked a second later. _

_Her eyes widened as she stepped back. Which would she choose? What did she really want to be in her life? She wasn't sure really. Was that why she could never find a face for her dream man? The two stood opposite, both holding out one hand to her. Kuronue was on the right, Edmund on the left. _

"_Make your choice soon." Edmund told her. _

"_Or your choice will be made for you, and you may not like the outcome." Kuronue finished. _

_Her hand reached out slowly and grasped the hand that she wanted… _

She opened her eyes slowly to stare at the wall just inches from her face. She could only guess that it was morning since the candles were lit again. She slowly pushed herself up and looked around. Audra paced as quietly as she could from one side of the room to another until she spotted that Hiromi was awake. Edmund was nowhere in sight.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Where is he?"

The words rang through the great hall that was serving breakfast to the demons that followed Yoko Kurama and Kuronue. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the doorway. Hiromi stood, dagger in hand, her eyes like storm clouds gathering to unleash an unholy storm about to break above their heads. Behind her Audra stood, her hands resting at her side as if they were on a simple stroll through the garden. Behind these two were Takji, Yukia and Grethi who had joined them after Hiromi had slammed her way out of the room.

It was breakfast time and most of the demons were in the great hall, attempting to have a breakfast of filling food. Despite being surrounded by so many demons, Hiromi only had eyes for Kuronue and Yoko who stood over a table with a map over it. They had both turned as the words echoed over the words of a hundred demons. They exchanged glances before Yoko motioned for the demons that had risen, about to grab the human, to back down and eat their breakfast. Kuronue's glance returned to the human, locking eyes with her to show, he wasn't afraid of what she could do. She was a human after all. If she even tried to hurt him, he could break her silly little head against a wall.

"He, Hiromi?" Kuronue asked, fingers fiddling with a pedant that caught and held the human's attention for only a moment.

"Edmund you sorry excuse for a demon," Hiromi spat, starting down the aisle that had been made for her to go down towards the head demons. "Who else would I mean? You told me that he had the night! I wake up not even near dawn and he's no longer in the room. Audra tells me that he wasn't there when she came to change guard with Night at midnight. So you tell me Kuronue right now, where is Edmund?" Her voice had chilled Kuronue a bit. It was like stepping into the middle of a snow storm with no clothing on.

He shook off the feeling and walked down to meet her halfway. He put on a small smile and raised an eyebrow as if her words didn't affect him at all and he found her nothing more than a silly pet that had done an unusual thing.

"Why would you think that I had done anything to him? He changed his shape to try and kidnap you. He could have changed shape to escape without you. He is a demon after all. And from what I remember, he was a very slippery demon too when I knew him." Kuronue teased her, knowing full well what had happened to Edmund.

"Damn you! Edmund was my friend, he'd never just leave me here," Hiromi hissed, though a part of her mind had wondered that when she'd started to go towards the great hall after getting directions from Audra.

"No, he wouldn't. I'll admit that." Kuronue said as he saw the hand the gripped the knife tighten as if the girl was seriously about to try and stab him. "But he did barter for his freedom last night. He swore that he wouldn't return with Lord Koenma's army to fetch you if I swore you would be released when you'd given me everything you know about other demons." Kuronue was surprised when his news seemed to hit the girl hard.

Hiromi, although she'd fought with him the night before, had truly been glad that she would have had a fellow prisoner; a prisoner that knew her and was her friend. They had fought like that before, bickering over how well she could do her job alone and such. To know that, maybe, because of their fight he had decided to leave her here in exchange for freedom hurt her more than she cared to admit. She had known that demons were fickle creatures that went with whatever tide came and went. But she had thought that maybe Edmund was different. He worked for Lord Koenma after all.

When she saw a wave of sympathy roll over Kuronue's face for a split second, Hiromi blinked away the tears that shown in her eyes and raised her head a little straighter, looking around her slowly to see the other demons watching her. Finally when she thought that she could control her emotions, she looked back up at Kuronue.

"What demon do you want to know about first?" she asked, looking over his shoulder rather into the eyes that held a sort of respect for the human that she did not like.

Kuronue had watched emotions plague the girls face before she had noticed the sympathy he felt play out on his own face. Then he watched her as she schooled her face flat and returned to an obedient human. He found that part most interesting. She really did want to be released and was willing even to lower herself in order to accomplish that goal. He tilted his head to the side and watched her for a moment.

"Kuronue, stop undressing the human with your eyes and get her up here. We do not have all day after all." Yoko Kurama told the demon, refusing to look at the human, as if that was going to make her change her behavior.

Kuronue sighed and rolled his eyes at Kurama's attitude before taking the girl by the shoulder and leading the girl the rest of the way up to the head of the room. When they reached the table he released her and turned back to the dining hall which was still unusually silent as the demons looked at the human that Kuronue had conversed with.

"If any demons lay a hand on Mistress Hiromi while she is here, they will no longer be safe under this roof." Kuronue said, his voice echoing over the silence. Whispers began cropping up among the bravest of the demons. He let it go as he turned and looked back at the map until a particularly loud whisper caught all their attentions.

"So do you think he'll have her in bed by the time this winter is over?"

Before Kuronue could explain that his words were not to be taken lightly, Hiromi strode forward to stand in front of the table with the map. The look on her face sent the room silent again. On it was a cold, calculating smile that threatened to turn anyone that spoke to ice.

"If Lord Kuronue did not make it clear, I will restate and stress to you that you listen to me. I may be human, but if any demon lays a finger on me, even Lord Kuronue, then I have some very special friends here that will do their best to make your deaths slow, painful, and in the best to their abilities, torturous, until you wish that death would come and take you. But you will not be allowed to die until I put the dagger through your heart." She said, looking at the demons before her. She delivered this speech with the smile remaining on her lips. Her voice carried cheerfulness as she spoke the words. During this little speech, the four demons that were her guard came to stand behind her, Audra to her immediate right and Takji at her immediate left while the other two stood directly behind her.

With that said she turned and went to stand across the table from Yoko to the Left of Kuronue. "So which demon do you want?" she asked, keeping the cheer and smile on her face as she spoke. She studied the map as Kuronue stood speechless for a moment. Kuronue finally chuckled and shook his head before pointing to a marker on the map.

"This castle is deserted but long ago a demon named Thuki lived there. Do you know that demon?" he asked, looking at her from the corner of his eye.

Hiromi looked up at the two demons, giving Yoko a scorn filled look before looking at Kuronue. Was he testing her?

"You must be mistaken. That castle belongs to the demon named Wesni. He's a rain master and has lived there for thirty years. He has a guard of 300 demons, most of which are water demons like he is. The castle doesn't have very good walls and could fall easily with a few well placed hits," Hiromi told them as she looked back down at the map. _One week_, she counted happily to herself. She would not have to really deal with these demons for one week. She had seen from Kuronue's face that she'd passed the little test he had put up there for her.

Except that that wasn't the end to her knowledge. They pried every ounce of information she had on Wesni out of her before letting her go get breakfast. By this time the hall had emptied of all other demons except for Kuronue, Audra, and Yoko. She rubbed her neck and went to the table that had the food and good some of the fruit and meat to eat before sitting at table farthest from the demons who were still conversing. Audra had gotten some food as well and sat across from the girl.

"You did really well. Not many people have that kind of memory," Audra finally said while she was taking a break of eating between a grape-like fruit and a piece of what Hiromi could only call pork.

"It's my life if I can't remember." Hiromi said softly, not wanting to gain the two taller demon's attention any more than she already had.

"I suppose you are right about that," Audra said softly, copying her tone before looking up as Kuronue and Yoko left the hall without saying a word. She watched them go and frowned, tilting her head to the side. Hiromi watched with in silence as she took a bit of a strawberry like fruit.

"I don't think you will have to worry about going out to the garden for a few days. Yoko and Kuronue will be gone." Audra finally told her after the look she had had on a moment before vanished.

"They are going after Wesni then?" Hiromi asked.

"Yes," was all that Audra said before she threw away the rest of her food and led the human out of the room when she was done. Instead of leading her to Hiromi's room she led Hiromi to a room that was almost like one of the dojo's that Hiromi had seen once.

"What are we doing here?" Hiromi asked as she looked around. Grethi, Takji and Yukia were there already. Takji and Grethi were facing off in the middle as Audra led Hiromi around the outer edge to stand next to Yukia who was acting as a referee for the match. The fight distracted Hiromi though before Audra could reply. Her eyes followed the two go back and forth using hands, knees, and feet without pause. It was like watching a dance as well as a battle. Where Grethi was kicking, Takji was blocking and when Takji punched, Grethi ducked.

Finally Audra stopped the fight with a sharp command and motioned for Hiromi to come to the center of the room. Hiromi's eyes widened as she remembered Night's thoughts that she should learn some fighting. She hesitated, biting her lip. Years of her mother telling her that fighting was for the men and not for women plagued her for a moment. Hiromi looked around the room and realized that her mother had never had to worry about demon's pushing themselves on her. She straightened her back and untied her kimono top and folded it up and placed it in the corner. There were only other females in the room anyway so it didn't matter if they saw her soft cream colored skin that had been hidden beneath the kimono. Standing in a breast band and the pair of slacks that she had worn when she had followed Kurama and Kuronue, Hiromi smiled sheepishly up at Audra who was using Takji as an example as she demonstrated how to throw safe punches.

Time sped past for the next week. As Audra had stated she had gone from the garden to the dojo to the dining hall and then back to her room throughout the next seven days without running into Yoko or Kuronue. A few demons had tried to touch the human, but Audra, or one of the other guards had always been there to persuade them that it would be a very bad idea for them to do anything like that. It was the last day of the week, when Kuronue found the young woman sitting peacefully in the garden, watching a butterfly jump from one plant to another. It was Takji's turn to guard her, and the tattoo user had summoned the butterfly to entertain the human who had started to get almost depressed over the last day when she had run out of new things to explore.

Kuronue waved Takji off with a nod and sat next to the young woman on the grass before laying back to stare up at the sky. Hiromi didn't say anything until Takji was a good three hundred feet away and out of earshot.

"Was your mission successful?" Hiromi asked, turning her gaze to look at the tall demon that sprawled next to her. She noted that he had binding around his upper left bicep, but she didn't mention it. Kuronue closed his eyes and fished with his good hand in his right pocket. He pulled out a small necklace which he held out to her without saying a word.

Hiromi took it and looked at it. In the shape of a rose, the white paint glittered in the sunlight the poured down on them. In the center of the rose was a ruby that was almost as bright as the white paint under the sun. 

"This is what you stole?" she asked softly, holding it up to the light to look at it without it gleaming in her eyes.

"No. What we stole is in the treasure room. This is just something I saw and thought I'd steal to say thank you for the information." Kuronue corrected, closing his eyes as he relaxed back.

A breeze rushed past them, fluttering the young human's black hair into her face as she turned to look down at him. She had a new kimono on, one of the new ones that the girl guards had brought her the day after Kuronue had left. This one matched the green of the grass with no designs on it. Her pants were a slightly darker green though all one saw was an inch at the bottom of her kimono. Her hand clutched the pendant as she stared at the demon.

Finally, Kuronue opened an eye and looked at her to see what was keeping her so silent. He found a young woman with hair blowing around her, her blue-grey eyes calling forward images of a sea from above to Kuronue's mind. His dark purple-dark blue locked with hers. They sat there, staring at one another for a good five minutes.

Hiromi was thinking about the dream she had had the first night she had been living here at the demon castle. It had repeated the next night. In both she had chosen the hand of the bat demon, and now she found herself almost glad that she had made that choice.

Kuronue was thinking about days long past that would never return. He was thinking about how the pendant had reminded him so much of those days and this human that he had had to risk getting injured in the arm in order to get it before he left the castle.

It was Hiromi that looked away first. She clutched the necklace before pulling the pendant over her head slowly. She hadn't felt any curses in the little necklace and really did think it was beautiful. When it was resting against her chest, she smiled over at Kuronue. 

"You aren't such a bad demon Kuronue. Thank you." She replied before looking back at the garden ahead of her. She didn't see the happiness that bloomed on Kuronue's face when she'd thanked him.

'You aren't going to ask what we stole?" he asked instead of commenting on the thanks.

"No. I have no interest in that," she told him before lying out next to him to bask in the sun. Her eyes closed as she turned on her side to face him. She didn't trust him to not try anything if she laid with her back to him. "But I am interested to know something else, if you won't mind me asking Lord Kuronue."

Kuronue relaxed back, staring up at the ceiling. "Let me guess, how did I know Edmund and why did I let him go?" he asked quietly.

Hiromi's eyes opened wide, surprise chilling her. Could he read her thoughts as well? "How-?"

"Audra told me when we got back an hour ago. She told me that you'd been wondering it," Kuronue told her, cutting off the question. "Edmund and I have run into each other before. We fought back then as well. Never did get along. At that time I was the one held captive by him and a human woman who had joined Edmund in his ambition to become a top rank demon." He sounded almost as if he longed to be back in that time, that Hiromi couldn't look at him. The longing in his voice she had only heard once before when a girl she had known had been talking about her lover. It embarrassed Hiromi a little that Kuronue could feel these kinds of emotions and tell her about them, but she didn't stop him from speaking.

"The human finally got Edmund to let me go after about six months. But I had to promise not to kill Edmund as long as the human was alive. So I felt compelled to offer the same choice to Edmund when I caught him here trying to take you back." Kuronue said, remembering the woman that had help free him before turning to look at the young woman who lay there looking at the grass.

They looked so much alike it was uncanny. He knew that the woman from so long ago would have liked the necklace as well. He pushed the memories away though and returned to look up at the sky. A comfortable silence came over the two as they laid there. Soon they both had fallen into a light nap next to each other.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The next few weeks were a repeat of the first to a certain extent.

On the first of the week she would give a demon to the two who had a map in front of them. Then they would be gone for either a few days or the entire week. During the time that they were away, she would train, sit and think, or go to visit the garden. Sometime during her third week in the castle, she was led to a new room in which hundreds of books lined the walls. This gave her a new pleasure to entertain herself with. She was learning more about demon world than she ever had under Lord Koenma's tutoring.

On the fifth week she had spent with them, she had become skilled enough to have practice bouts with Yukia under the strict supervision of Audra, who had taken Hiromi's training under her wing.

Each time that Kuronue and Yoko returned, Kuronue would have some trinket or another for the young human girl as well, though she always wore the rose necklace. She didn't really know why, but she felt drawn to the necklace, as if it was a connection to some normalcy that she so craved.

After that first afternoon of rest in the grass next to each other, they had taken to repeating it in the garden every time that Kuronue returned from a heist. It wasn't a conscious thing, such as they said they were going to meet out in the garden and take a nap together. It was more like they would find each other already there or just arriving. Nothing but gentle talk and a little nap happened however, which Hiromi was happy for. She may have been living with demons, but the girl was in no way ready to take on with any of them, even with Kuronue who insisted on being so nice to her.

Hiromi eventually became trusting enough of Yoko to speak directly to him, once he had made sure that his intentions did not include taking her forcefully to bed. She could not smile at him at least when he cracked a joke around Kuronue.

It was on one such day, when Kuronue was to return, that Hiromi got her first taste of a demon world winter. It hit her that she had been there for almost three months when she awoke and went outside to find the garden closed off to her. Audra refused to let her leave her bedroom in fact, saying that it wasn't safe for her to leave it at the moment. Eventually she wore Audra down enough to let her at least go to one of the windows and see why she couldn't go out there if Audra wasn't going to tell her. What the human saw outside was a frightful sight indeed and she understood instantly why Audra didn't want her seeing it.

A demon stood outside the castle, her hands to the sky, back to the castle. Her hair whipped around her and revealed her face as she looked over her shoulder to make sure the castle hadn't moved away from them. It was Night. She had a fur coat on and a large demon wolf stood next to her, protecting her on one side from the storm that raged around her. Sleet slapped Night in the face as she fought to stay upright. Hail pounded her body. All of this happened to her front, not her back. Behind her, nearer the castle, only soft snow fell with the occasional piece of hail falling when the demon flinched.

Audra explained that the wolf the stood next to Night was an ice wolf that had been willing to share his powers with Night in order to keep the castle from being damaged as long as Night was willing to stand out there with him. Night would remain out there with no outside contact until the snow storm stopped. Hiromi winced at the thought and turned from the window, unable to watch the demon sacrifice her body in order to protect the castle. She cried out when a piece of hail broke the window she had been looking out of and tried to hit her. She looked at the baseball size hail that rolled on the group and backed away from the window. After that she stayed in the library next to a fireplace that had a fire going. She never picked up a book and she never took her gaze from the fire.

This was where Kuronue found her. He looked battered from the storm as he collapsed next to the fire on the rug at the foot of the chair where Hiromi sat. She pulled her feet up to rest on the edge of her chair so that she wouldn't kick the demon, though she didn't say anything else. She wrapped her arms around her knees and huddled there in the chair.

They rested there in silence, girl staring at the fire, Kuronue resting with his eyes closed for a good half hour, just enjoying each other's company. Kuronue finally looked up at her and yawned quietly. "You are worried about Night." He observed. Hiromi nodded, not taking her gaze from the fire.

"You shouldn't. She does this ever winter storm. This is mild compared to other storms we've had. You simply won't have her in rotation to take care of you for a few weeks until the storm passes." Kuronue admitted to the human, before closing his eyes again.

Hiromi gritted her teeth. She was reminded once more how demons and humans were different. In any other situation, Hiromi would have been praying to her gods for the castle to be led safely through the storm. She would have been thinking of the work that her family would have to do to repair the walls and windows that were destroyed by the storm. Now, she was praying that the first friend she'd made here would survive the weeks that she would be forced to stay out in the snow protecting them. And Hiromi could do nothing to help her. What was she, a human, supposed to do in a demon storm?

Anger made her push herself up, ignoring the growl of anger as she stepped on a part of Kuronue's wing. She stalked from the library, leaving Kuronue propped up, massaging the part of his wing that had been stepped out. What had he said now? He shook his head and returned to lying down with a small grin. Hiromi really was like the human he knew so many years ago. The grin fell from his face slowly. Maybe she was a bit too much like that woman. He turned on to lay on his front and stare at the fire. Memories flickered to his mind of a time when he hadn't known Yoko and had been a demon that worked alone.

In the hallway, her back against the doors to the library, Hiromi paused in her anger and looked at the floor.

"It's stupid," she mumbled, voicing her opinion of the way that the demons took advantage of each other's abilities for their own selfishness. She stood straight and went alone to the room where she trained.

Hiromi didn't even notice when Audra didn't talk to her as she went through the drills. She worked in the dojo for an hour before she slumped in a corner, pulling her knees to her chest once more as tears flittered to her eyes. She wasn't a crying girl. In fact, she hated it when she cried. She felt a little numbness cover her body as the tears started to descend her cheeks.

This had been the first time that she had been left alone for almost three months and now she was crying. Thoughts of escape entered her mind as she stared across the room. She could probably get out of here now, since her guards had messed up. She was supposed to always have a demon guard from Audra's band around her. Now she found herself standing and moving to the door to the dojo. She peeked outside to see that no demons ran around to find her.

Hiromi could get free. She might not make it far during the storm, but she could get out of the demon's hold and use her spirit energy to make herself run far faster than she had when she'd followed Yoko and Kuronue all those months ago. She opened the door to do her half baked idea before pausing. A conversation that she'd had once with Kuronue entered her brain unbidden.

"_You have been one of the best hostages I have ever met." Kuronue had said one afternoon when they'd been relaxing in the garden. Hiromi was practicing her fighting skills next to him, making sure not to step on him or anything. _

"_You have been one of the best hostage takers I've ever met." Hiromi countered as she spun and kicked out at the imaginary foe that she was battling. _

"_Why thank you," he had told her gently as he watched her. "You know, I have spoken with Night. She's told me that several times you have been relatively alone, or the others have been distracted that you could have easily gotten away during. You never did. You turned and waited for them to catch up with you. And then there's your spirit energy that we felt when you were following us that first day. You were able to keep up with us because of it. You could use that to get away right now. There are no walls to keep you in." _

_Hiromi had stopped working and turned to Kuronue, hands on hips as she caught her breath. "I'm not some fickle human Kuronue. I keep my promises. I promised to give you all the information I have on other demons in exchange for my life. I will honor our agreement, even if you do not." She said, honesty ringing in her words. _

Hiromi paused in the doorway of the dojo, debating her actions now. She nibbled her lip and looked up and down the hallway again. She let her feet guide her to the front door of the castle as she tried not to think of what she was going to do when she got there. Was she not fickle for wanting to leave after seeing this way of Demon life? Her hands rested on the front door when she reached there. She was not dressed for a winter run. Finally Hiromi made up her mind. She opened the large front door and exited the castle quietly. She was chilled to the bone within a few seconds of being in the snow.

She moved out to stand next to Night who was still fighting to keep the snow away from the castle. The ice wolf watched her with crystal eyes as she neared and put a hand onto Night's shoulder. "Thank you for protecting the castle and the gardens." Hiromi said over the howl of the wind. Night stared over her shoulder at the human with wide, surprised eyes. Hiromi smiled and then turned and walked back to the castle.

Hiromi would prove to Kuronue that she didn't need constant watching. She would prove that she could be trusted, even if she didn't trust him and his kind. When she returned to the warm insides she was chilled to the bone. Her skin was white as snow as she moved towards the library one more. It was the only place she knew where there was a roaring fire.

She stumbled into the library to find Audra reporting quickly that she had lost the human girl to a worried looking Kuronue. The three faced off for almost five minutes before Hiromi looked away from the two and went to the fire, warming her hands without a word. Audra would have known by this time what she had been planning or thinking. No matter how much Hiromi tried, she could not protect herself from Audra's telepathy.

"That was—" Audra started to say before Kuronue quieted her.

"I didn't run away. Looks like you have a pet human after all, Lord Kuronue." Hiromi said as the silence grew again. She did not say it kindly either. She hated herself for having admitted it. She hated Kuronue for turning her from the loyal worker of Koenma to someone who did not mind the presence of demons almost every second of her life. She had changed from a woman who loved her independence to a woman that was glad to have someone next to her all the time. She reflected on that.

"You could have gotten far away, if you'd run. Night would not have left her post to go after you. Audra had just realized that you didn't have any of your guards with you. You may even have gotten away." Kuronue pointed out, all worry disappearing from his face as the hostility that reflected from the girl's words.

"I know." Hiromi said, staring at the fire. "And if I was a demon with no honor then I would have gone off and left you without a hostage." She turned from the fire to stare up at Kuronue with eyes that shown with pride. "But I am no demon. I have more honor that most demons here. I will not try to run away. I will stay and give you every last demon I know of."

Kuronue watched her with a controlled face. There wasn't much that he could say after that except that he hoped that she wouldn't try and get away. But he couldn't say that for that would show off weakness before Audra and the human.

Oh, his heart realized, he was falling for the human. It was almost déjà vu. Almost. He just wasn't sure about the human that stood before him. She always accepted his gifts with a thanks, a smile, and once a hug for one that she had really liked—a small cat that had disappeared a week later due to some demon's sick delight. They were still trying to find the cat. Besides that hug, she had been kind to Kuronue but no more kind to him than she had been to any of her guards that she had made friends with.

He could always force himself upon her, or have one of the other demons hypnotize her to like him. He was being silly though. He didn't want her that badly. If she didn't like him, he wasn't going to force it. For all he knew, she had year's worth of information for them. He had time he decided as he looked back at the fire.

"Audra," Kuronue started, looking at the demon, "She has proven her loyalty for the moment. I only require that one of you guards her at a time. If she is going from her room to mine she may be left unaccompanied, the same if she is in the garden and in this room. I will have the room spelled to keep ill-intent out and to hide her presence from demons. But if any trouble ensues, increase it back to the number you have it at now." He turned from the human who stared at him with surprise and left the room without saying another word.

The afternoon went by slowly for Hiromi. She had not expected the demon to accept that she hadn't run away and was 'loyal' as he had pointed out. She was given Grethi for the rest of the day as her guard, but she spent most of the time in her room, debating what to do about this change in Kuronue. She did not like it when people changed for (apparently) no reason at all. Curiosity was killing her by the end of the last meal of the day. She watched as Kuronue quickly ate and left the great hall where they were eating. Without catching must attention she rose and followed him quietly.

He walked the halls without seeming to notice her. They eventually ended up in his room. He moved across the room without acknowledging her presence until he was sitting on the edge of his bed. He looked up at her without surprise. He had known that she'd followed him. It was easy enough to recognize the movements of someone that followed you.

"Yes, Hiromi?" he asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

Hiromi inhaled to speak and then hesitated. She had developed an annoying tendency to think of what she wanted to say first while being here. She had never before done that. She had said what had come to her mind and then thought about it afterwards. She finally decided to just tell him.

"I do not understand. You had no reason to believe me about me not running away. You should have instead insisted on having me watched closer. There was no reason for you to decrease my guard and say that I was loyal to you. I've threatened you many times before. In no way have I acted loyal to a demon." She finally said, walking to stand five feet away from Kuronue.

Kuronue sat and stared at her. He had expected all sorts of conversation, like where her present for the day was or to thank him from releasing her of constant guardianship. This was not one of them. It had been three months since he had kidnapped her. She had spent the time trying to stay on his good side rather than questioning him. She had wanted to stay safe from all forms of hurt.

"Why did you do it?" Hiromi asked after she saw he wasn't going to answer right away. "Why do you trust me?"

Kuronue lowered his head and thought about it. He could say a lie along the lines that she had proven in her lack of attempting to get away that she wasn't such a bad human and that he felt it was better to reward this kind of behavior. He could lie about so many reasons he trusted her rather than mistrusted her. But what about the truth?

She reminded him so much of that woman from years ago that he sometimes found himself about to call her by her name—Deshiri—rather than by her own name. They were almost exactly the same. They had both been willing to keep their honor ahead of anything else. They had been willing to befriend others, but at different speeds. And in seeing this, Kuronue had fallen in love again.

But at the same time she was so much different from Deshiri. She was witty and liked to make her guards laugh and relaxed around her, where Deshiri had been stiff and formal with all except Kuronue. Hiromi had relaxed in his presence; Deshiri had remained stiff for almost ten months. Hiromi never tried to show him that humans were better than Demons morally. Hiromi was willing to try out new fighting techniques and laughed when she got them wrong.

"Because," Kuronue started, before pausing to think over what he was going to say. Was he really going to say it? "I think that I'm starting to fall in love with you."

The world buzzed around Hiromi as the words were processed. Her blue-grey eyes widened larger than he had ever seen them go. Her cheeks blossomed twin roses and lit her face up from the whiteness that had been acquired lately. She took a step back, and then another.

"You have to be joking." She said softly, refusing to admit that she had heard right. "You can't be serious."

Here was his chance to laugh and brush off what he had said and say that yes he was joking. But at the same time he couldn't bring himself to. It was out. Either she accepted it, or refused it. Either way, they could continue to work together.

"I spoke correctly Hiromi," he answered her.

"There is no way you can be serious. Demons don't fall in love. They can't," she exclaimed, shaking her head as she took another step away from the demon that rose and grabbed her arm to keep her from running away, looking as if he was going to convince her that they could. She froze in his grasp, looking from the hand to his face, a split second of fear speaking leagues on her face. Using one of the techniques that had been taught to her, she got him to let go so that she could run out of the room.

Hiromi ran the halls, trying to run from the knowledge of what Kuronue had said. She eventually found herself in her room again, panting as she slumped against the door to keep the others out. She was hiding her face in her knees as she tried to breathe and calm down. There was no way that she would ever love a demon. No. It would never happen. It couldn't ever happen.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Hiromi stared blank eyed up at the ceiling from her bed. After the confession of the night before, she had locked herself away in her room, refusing to speak to any of the guards that came to speak with her on Kuronue's behalf. That morning she had given her instructions on the demon they were to go after this week on a piece of paper which she left for her guard Takji on the desk. When the guard came to get her for breakfast, Hiromi had pretended to be asleep on the bed, her back to the room. When Takji had left the room with the piece of paper, Hiromi had turned over to stare up at the ceiling.

It didn't take much for her to realize that she would have to speak with Kuronue sooner or later. Hiromi couldn't really think about what he had said. It sat there at the back of her mind, haunting her as she forced herself to think about other demons that she knew about, recalculating what time she had left. Even when she did that Kuronue came up. Now that she had rejected him, would the deal stay the same? Would she be allowed her privacy and then be released when she was out of information?

She turned over onto her side and stared at the wall across form her where her wardrobe was. It was full of new kimono's that Kuronue had had made for her and of kimonos given to her by her guardians. Sluggishly she pushed herself up from the bed and went over to it and opened it up, staring at the many different clothes. She reached out and ran cold fingers over the material until it landed on her last present from Kuronue before he had told her he loved her. The material was a soft grey that had blue fire on the edge done with the finest needlework available at the time. She pulled it out and looked at the material with a frown.

"It reminded me of your eyes." Kuronue had said when he had given it to her the week before. She put it back quickly and went to her desk where all of her presents were sitting.

A small book of paper for her to write in was placed in the middle of her desk. She thumbed through it, looking at quick sketches of the demons that guarded her and the small descriptions about them littered the pages. She stopped on the last sketch, a sketch of Kuronue done by memory just a few days ago. 'Kuronue. He's the one that keeps me here. He gave me this beautiful book and wishes me to fill it. I will do what he wants. It is relaxing to do after all. He has wings like Edmund did. He has some kind of history with Edmund and a human that with him years ago.' These words were written next to the face of Kuronue.

She closed the book quickly and turned to the next gift—a small flower much like the human world called Tsubaki (Camellia). She sat down as she looked at this and watered it a small amount. Kuronue had asked Yoko to meddle with it a little so that instead of it being on a tree or bush it was standing perfectly by itself in the dirt. She pulled it close to her as she watched the water being soaked up by the soil it was in.

"What should I do little Tsubaki? Can I work with him ever again? What will he do now that I have so blatantly refused his love?" she whispered, letting her breath fall on the flower like her mother had taught her. Flowers flourished when spoken to her mother had said.

Hiromi lowered her gaze to the desk and rested her hands in her lap as she thought about her family. Had Koenma made it so that they didn't notice she was gone? Or had he let her disappear and hoped that they would think she was kidnapped? Had he even noticed that she wasn't back yet? Did her parents even worry that their daughter was gone?

Hiromi had been so intent on living that for almost three months she had forgotten that she had been born in human world and had a family there. A twinkle of light on her the area above her bosom caught her attention and brought her aware of the necklace that she had put on that one day in the garden and had never taken off. She pulled it off and examined it. What was she going to do? She had loved this necklace when she'd thought it only an innocent 'thanks' from the demon she was working for. Could she still wear it without being reminded that it was actually a love token?

He had been so gentle with her lately. Kuronue hadn't given her any reason to hate him. She hadn't fought with him since the night that Yoko had attacked her and she'd fended him off. Her eyes sparkled a little with unshed tears. She refused to let them fall.

"Hiromi?"

Hiromi turned in her seat to look at the doorway. She knew who it was before she turned in her seat. Night stood in the open door, her hair and skin snow white from being outside. Her eyes were a dark brown as she shed the ice wolf's abilities to be able to stand the indoor heat. She watched the human with worried eyes.

"Yes, Night, what is it?" Hiromi asked softly, tucking the necklace back over her head and under her kimono. Night moved in to stand next to the human before crouching and looking up at her.

"Do you think that demons are incapable of love?" Night asked.

Hiromi couldn't help but smile inwardly. For a castle of thieves, trying to keep anything from anyone else was like trying to make a horse drink when it wasn't thirsty. She should have known that everything was known by others already.

"It isn't that." She said and looked back at the Tsubaki flower on her desk. "It is obvious from all these gifts he's given me that his emotions are true." She reached out and traced a gentle finger over the side of one of the petals.

"Then what is it?" Night inquired as she chafed her hands so the blood would start to circulate again.

Hiromi stared at the flower and thought. What really was the problem with having a man love her? Even if that man was a demon man, did that really change the feelings involved? Was Hiromi willing to try it? She had never had anyone proclaim their love for her. Now she was kidnapped and one of her kidnappers was declaring that he loved her. She looked away from the flower and at her lap where her hands clenched. Could she trust herself to not fall for him if she was here for the full year? She knew that she already liked the demon. He had been so kind to her after their initial fights. She had to admit that demon in general weren't bad. She'd learned that from the demons that protected her.

"The problem is I'm human." Hiromi finally said softly, pushing herself from her chair to walk to the door. She had made up her mind. "I'm human and humans aren't supposed to be with demons. That's why our worlds are separate. Do you know if Lord Kuronue is still here?" She had to speak with the cause of her distress. She had to make him understand the situation. Hiromi didn't think that it could wait.

"He was the one that sent me here Hiromi. He wanted me to see if you were still angry with him over his actions of last night. You hadn't spoken to Audra or Grethi when they came to ask so he wanted to see if hanging me here would help." Night said as she followed the human over to the doorway. "What is it you wish to tell him? I can take a message." It was an offer that Night was hoping she wouldn't have to fulfill. She thought that Hiromi was old enough to deal with unwanted love herself, but she was also Hiromi's friend and understood how it must have felt to have someone like Kuronue admit some feelings.

Hiromi shook her head as she opened the door and went into the hallway. "No Night, I need to do this myself." Hiromi said softly before turning away and starting down the hallway. She would check the garden first. Even if it was winter out, maybe he'd be out there. She also wanted to gather courage from the sight of the garden. As she walked along, she thought about her choice until she was almost ready to take it back. She shook her head and went out to the outer door that led to the garden and peeked out. No Kuronue that she could see.

Hiromi continued her search next in the library, giving her more time to think about her choice. Did she really want to do this? That was the question. Was she ready? These questions plagued her among many more until she finally found him an hour later in the entrance way, about to leave with Yoko. He froze as he saw her at the top of the stairs that led the way down to the door. She froze at the top of the stairs as their eyes locked as they had the night before. Her heart hammered in her chest as her mind, taught to hate demons and want to run from them every chance she got, clashed with what her heart had decided.

Kuronue turned from Yoko and started up the stairs, stopping when his eyes were level with Hiromi's. Hiromi was distinctly aware of the demons that had joined them after getting ready for their expedition to the next demon's hide-out. It did not matter however. She finally opened her mouth and began to speak.

All she was able to get out however was his name before he took a step or two forward and grabbed her head and pulled her into a kiss. Her body stiffened under his hand and her eyes widened. This wasn't what she had been planning. Not at all. She heard roaring in her ears but realized after the kiss ended that it was the demons that surrounded them. When her lips were released she gaped at the demon that stood there looking at her solemnly.

"What did you do that for?" she whispered, plainly stunned beyond much sense.

"Because, Hiromi, even if you don't accept it, I do love you. And I would like to have the taste of your lips on mine at least once in my lifetime." Kuronue told her gently before turning to start walking away. He had resigned himself over the night that she couldn't return the feelings. If Hiromi could accept them and, less likely, return them she would have said something, wouldn't she? Now that he'd at least kissed her once, he could be happy if she didn't.

Hiromi felt her cheeks redden as quietness surrounded them. The other demon's wanted to see what she would say and were whispering with their neighbors in order to make bets on it. Anger welled up in Hiromi. She had been angry at him before for the suddenness of the announcement, but she was angry at him for something else now. She stomped down the stairs after the demon. He stopped as he heard her footsteps following him and turned right into a punch to the face from the human. Now it was so silent that one could have heard a pin drop.

Kuronue massaged his cheek and turned to look at the human that stood a couple steps above him, making them once more even in height. "Now what did you do that for?" he asked with a little bit of humor. He had expected something of the sort, though he hadn't been welcoming it.

"That was my first—How dare you—you know I was going to—" Hiromi couldn't get a full sentence out as she glared at the demon. Her body started to heat up again and she finally lost it and started to attack Kuronue. Despite him being 6'8'' and easily a foot taller than her, she attacked him without reserve. Kuronue dodged the worst of it as he continued to back down the stairs. He was impressed at the skills the girl had learned in her three short months with them.

"You were wrong!" She cried as she attacked. "I didn't accept it last night you idiot! Just because I may be a human doesn't mean that I'm unwilling to try new things. I was going to say I'd try it! I'd see if I could fall for you as well. I don't feel that way now but one never knows! I hadn't even thought of you that way! I hadn't thought it was possible. I was raised by Lord Koenma's truths which said that no demon could ever love! And then you just had to go and ruin it! I wanted to give that kiss to whoever I chose! I wasn't even sure if I was going to choose you." With each sentence a punch or a thrust of her hands at Kuronue emphasized her words

She stopped after she had made him back up against a wall. She breathed heavily, unable to catch her breath while she had spoken and attacked. Kuronue stared down at her. He was finally putting it together that that had been her first kiss and that she had been willing to try falling in love with him. He leaned against the wall and couldn't help but letting a small smile on his face. He reached out to the human who was still glaring at him. He rested a gentle hand on her shoulder and squeezed. Hiromi turned heated grey eyes up to lock with his dark blue-purple eyes again.

"I am sorry," he told her softly. "But it seemed like the right time."

"It wasn't, you stupid oaf!" she told the demon as she hung her head. It was too late to save her lips, but she would protect her heart even more. That kiss had awoken something in her that she didn't understand and didn't want to.

"Are you sure?" he asked softly; ready to take hold of her hands if she tried to hit him again. "It felt like the right moment to me." A cough came from Yoko who was looking at the door as if he was mentally telling his best friend to end this another time.

Hiromi and Kuronue looked up, becoming intently aware of the maybe twenty or so demons that were watching them. Hiromi glared at them as Kuronue tried not to smile at her. "Go." She grumbled and turned from him. She stood with her back to the demons, glaring at the wall, feeling heavily embarrassed at having lost her first kiss when she'd been about to demand that he give her time to herself to think about it and to attempt to relax into the idea of him loving her.

"I'll bring you something new back." He whispered into her ear. Before she could tell him not to bother, he was already gone. Hiromi turned stormy eyes after him as the demon's filed past; some giving her half grins or full fledge smiles. Night found her there, watching out the front doors as they left the grounds and disappeared over a mountain to the right.

"If I'm not prying, what did you decide?" Night asked. She had changed her clothes to something a bit more protective from the weather outside and was watching her human friend carefully.

Hiromi looked form the door to her hands which had contacted a few times with Kuronue's body. "I decided to give it a try. I won't promise anything. And I'm too confused right now to know if I do care about him. But I'll try and see if anything develops. If it doesn't then that's it. Hopefully that won't change my conditions of living here." She told her friend before turning and heading to the great hall for food. She didn't listen when Night tried to reassure her that there was nothing that was going to keep her from leaving when she was empty of information, but Hiromi ignored her. So she'd made her decision.

It took Hiromi the next three days to warm to the idea that maybe she could love a demon without the world collapsing for her. Though that didn't mean that she was in any way sure that she even harbored feelings for the demon. After all, it was not only her first taste of love, but her first interest in a man. The storm outside, which had let up that day when she'd been kissed, had returned full force that evening and she hadn't been able to speak with Night after that. It was a good three days before Kuronue returned however, and this time his present was more extraordinary than it had been before.

Yukia found her out in the garden which had been sprinkled with snow. The storm had let up for an hour and Night was rest so the snow fell slowly over the garden. Hiromi was having a snowball fight with Audra who had once participated in one in the Human world and thus knew the rules. When she saw Yukia with a look of awe on her face, she stumbled and got a snowball straight in the face. She tried to calm her laughter as she went over the Yukia who grabbed her hand with no explanation and pulled her through the hallways to the main hall where the drama earlier that week had taken place.

"Yukia what's going on? The thieves aren't back yet are they? They should have taken a good three days to prepare when they got there if they were smart." Hiromi said, still trying to capture her breath from laughing.

"Oh they are back, Lady Hiromi. You must hurry though." Yukia said practically dragging the girl to the main hallway. When they stopped at the top of the stairs, they looked down at what awaited them.

A pair of horses stood side by side, a female and a male. Each of them was looking around them with interest. When Kuronue saw that Yukia had fetched Hiromi, he froze for a second to study her. She wore the last present he had given her—the kimono—and had a fur coat over it so she wouldn't freeze. The two horses looked up as well. The male was at least fifteen hands tall at the shoulder. The female Hiromi knew better than her own name.

"Snowflurry!" she screamed as she darted down the stairs and went to hug the horse around the neck. The horse had been her horse in the human world when she had wanted to use horses to get form place to play. She had named the horse for the white main on a black body that it had. The horse whinnied and nuzzled her human in the shoulder. The male horse had been her grandfather's prize stud that was named Fleetfoot.

Kuronue stood next to the male horse, giving instructions to one of the demons that would be taking care of the horses while they remained there. When the demon ran off to do as he was bid, Kuronue turned his eyes to the present he had gotten for the human. While he hadn't gone himself, he had sent a demon that was low enough level to get through the barrier and smart enough to be able to get her two horses that she knew. The girl was going over the horse with expert hands as she petted and reassured the horses with calm words.

Finally she turned to Kuronue with pure joy on her face. When she saw Kuronue though smiling happily, he faltered and was reminded of what she had promised herself when he'd left. For a moment she wasn't sure what to say, but then she turned and looked at her horse again and she knew.

"Can I ride her when it clears up? She asked, turning once more to look at Kuronue.

"You can ride her whenever you want. I'm having one of our demons create a stable of sorts that had a large area that you can run your horse in." Kuronue said before turning and walking away. He didn't want to push the human too much. She had shown that she wasn't truly ready to feel the emotions that he did. Either she gained those feelings or she did not. He stopped however when arms wrapped around his waist from behind.

"Thank you Lord Kuronue." She said into his back where she hid her face, her arms squeezing a little around his waist before she released him and went back to her horse. When Kuronue looked back to look at Hiromi, he could see a small blush on her cheek as she moved around to examine Fleetfoot as well. He smiled and turned away to leave the girl to her new presents.

It occurred to the girl as he was leaving that if they didn't go after the demon she had given them information on this week, then what were they going to do with her? She looked after Kuronue as he topped the stairs and turned down the hallway that would lead him to his room.


	10. Chapter 10

nOte from Author: I am so sorry it has taken me a while to put somethin' up. Some things have happened that kept me from updating. But here, alas, is the next installment of Human Rose. -ROSEY

Chapter 10

"You are an idiot!"

The words echoed through the partially closed door of Kuronue's room. Hiromi froze, her hand an inch away from the door where she'd been about to knock. She had just come from riding her horses in the newly built stables. Since the evening before Hiromi had hardly left the horses alone. She was finding a thrill in the new distraction that would fill her days while she was alone. It wasn't boring or the exact same thing every day. Now she was at Kuronue's door in hopes of thanking him again. What was Yoko doing there yelling at Kuronue for?

"What are you yelling about Yoko?" Kuronue asked, leisurely. He knew Yoko better than to get angry at being called an idiot by him.

"You know, I can understand you finding that human interesting and all. I really can. Hell I even did to begin with until she _stabbed_ me. But when you take three days out of a week that we have to kill this demon she gave to us on a silver platter to grab a pair of horses from human world for her entertainment, I am sorry but that is excessive!" Yoko growled at his friend.

There was silence for a few moments before Kuronue answered his friend's accusations. During this silence, Hiromi held her breath to keep from being heard. Who knew how sensitive Yoko's ears may be? They might stop talking about this. She had wanted to ask Kuronue why he'd gone to get her the horses. It couldn't possibly be because he wanted her to be happy. There had to be an alternative motive, her spy side kept saying. And what did Yoko mean 'to kill this demon'? She had been giving them the information under the impression that they were simply going to steal from the demons and return.

"We can still keep up our schedule Yoko. That demon will die by the end of the week so we can get more information from the human. But in order to get her to give us more information, we must make sure that she is happy here. In order to get her to change sides completely, we must get her to love being here," Kuronue said, pausing a moment before continuing his explanation. "Bringing the horses here was just a step in that direction. It was like being a piece of her home to her so that she might think this place was home."

"And it had nothing to do with you kissing her before we left?" Yoko snapped, still a little peeved but obviously the explanation given to him had patted down some of the angry feathers that stood up.

"That was just… To see if she was comfortable here." Kuronue said with a laugh as he tried to phrase it right.

Hiromi's heart beat against her chest in anger, but she bit her tongue and temper and backed as quietly away from the door as she possibly could. She would make the demon's pay for speaking like she was some toy to be won over. She would not go in there now and disrupt their important discussion. She would wait. She would wait and plan and make the payback far worse than any of them could think of. Before Hiromi could move away completely, the door was yanked open and Yoko stopped, looking down at her.

"Kuronue, your pet is here." He called over his shoulder before bowing the girl inside as if he hadn't just been badmouthing her a moment before. Hiromi passed him, stiff shoulders as she entered the room and stood just a foot inside the room before the door was closed behind her. She turned blue ice eyes to gaze around the room and found Kuronue standing next to a desk where some papers were sprawled across.

"Come in Hiromi, please." Kuronue said, happiness flooding from his person. "Did you like your horses being brought to you? I thought maybe if you had something from home you could be a little more relaxed. And it gives you something else to do during these winter months which will be rather boring for you I thought."

Hiromi forced a smile onto her lips as she moved over to dance her fingers across the edge of the desk, her eyes looking at the papers instead of him until he swept them off the table and stuffed them into a drawer. The spy frowned and looked up at the demon who was smiling almost too innocently at her. When she didn't return the smile, Kuronue sighed away his happiness and folded his arms across his chest.

"How much did you hear?" he asked. When she gave him a wide eyed look that mirrored the innocence he had put on just a moment ago, he pointed at the door which she had just entered. "It was partially opened and I saw a bit of your kimono. That grey and blue together could only mean it was you Hiromi. How much of that conversation did you hear, my little spy?"

Hiromi considered not telling him. She debated between letting him think she only heard the last few things or giving her revenge then and there. The part of her that finally won out was her survivalist instincts. She looked away as she mumbled her reply.

"What?" Kuronue asked, walking around the desk to stand in front of her. He kept a good arm's length between them though so that he couldn't crowd her. After all, she had only just given him a hug the day before and only said she'd see if feelings cropped up. He hoped that the hug from yesterday and his present would help persuade her that his feelings were genuine.

"I heard everything Kuronue," the young woman stated as she stepped back from him, putting more space between the two of them. Why did he want to get closer to her? Why did an inner part of her want him to get closer? Her mind throbbed as her body gave her mixed signals from there to Timbuktu. Hiromi rose blue-grey eyes to look into his eyes which were calm for all that she had just told him that she had heard him say that she was just a tool and that he wanted her to change sides all together.

"I'm not some silly flower that can be destroyed in a moment. I don't need presents and kisses to know that I won't be allowed to leave when my information runs dry. You don't think it was obvious from the beginning? Kuronue, demons never give concessions to humans who demand them. Ever. I was hoping, pleading that I would be allowed to go in my mind, but I knew I wouldn't—" Hiromi said, voicing the fears that had plagued her when she had been lying in bed a night, waiting for something to happen. She wasn't able to finish them however for Kuronue stepped forward, titled her head back and planted a gentle kiss on her lips, hushing her words.

The body of the girl went first stiff in his hands as she her eyes widened to stare up at him as he held her in place, his lips pressed against hers. It wasn't so bad, a part of her said. It was the same part of her that was causing her heart to slam against her chest and making her lose her breathe; that was making her want to kiss back; that made her want to lose herself into that kiss. It laughed at her logical side, saying that it had always been there as it shoved and pushed its way out. Her body slowly relaxed and she shared her first voluntary kiss with the demon.

_But he'll just kill you in the end. He'll never really love a human like you. He'll toss you away when you are out of information. _

The thoughts slammed to the front of her mind and she yanked herself away from the kiss. She was out of breath and panting a little. Her eyes that had closed had slammed their way open again. She looked up at Kuronue who stood, a small smile on his face, as if he knew why she'd pulled away. She swallowed and took a few steps back to give her space to herself. They were far too close. She wasn't even sure that it was true feelings that had caused her to kiss back.

"I would never deceive a business partner. Yes, I'm trying to get you to want to stay here. How could I not? You are beautiful and would be a human rose among demons. A human rose that I would protect with all my being. But I do not want to force you to stay if you do not find this place pleasing." Kuronue told her, unaware of the tangle of things going on within the human. After all, the last human he had fallen for had been the one to instigate the relationship, so it had been obvious where her feelings had lain.

_He lies._ The same voice that had whispered the other words a moment before told her. It sounded like her own thoughts but at the same time it was as if someone else was putting them in her mind. She winced away from them. Hiromi looked up at him and caught herself staring at him. She looked away, trying to stiffen herself to the charm he was trying to put on her.

Kuronue's kind face fell into worry as he saw the girl shrink inside herself. He took a step forward before pausing as she winced away from him. He froze and watched her for a moment. Hiromi looked up at him once again and he could see terror taking over her mind. He blinked and frowned and stepped forward to stand in front of her blocking the way to 'escape'. He reached a hand out and touched her cheek with the tips of his finger. He made sure that only worry played across his face as he sensed what was creating the panic in her. Inside he growled angrily. This was a demon's work. Someone had made it into her mind and was playing with her.

Almost as if the demon doing it heard him, the look of terror and pain that had filtered slowly onto Hiromi's face vanished. Instead a look of pure triumph slid into place and a voice that was not Hiromi's echoed in the room from the girls' mouth.

"We shall see who will win old boy; this little human or me?"

The voice was feminine and one that he knew all too well. He spun away from Hiromi and stalked from the room, laughter following him as he locked the girl into his room. He couldn't have a controlled human walking around without a guard. He stalked through the halls, his wings flicking and twitching as the anger in him bubbled to the surface. She would never trust any of the now if the demon controlled her for much longer. Even if he could break the spell that she was under, the damage was already done. She would never allow any of them to get near her if she knew how the connection had been made.

Finally he threw open the door to the room that Audra occupied and stalked in. Audra had been sitting at a desk, writing something when he'd barged in. Now she stood with her sword drawn, ready to attack whatever demon thought it was a good idea to try and attack her. Next to her Takji stood, ready to peel away one of her tattoos in order to protect them herself. When she saw who it was, Audra lowered the sword and looked questioningly at him.

"My lord, what can I do for you? Is Hiromi all right?" Audra asked; her voice a perfect match to the one that had come from Hiromi's mouth just minutes before.

Kuronue hesitated though. He knew that mind controlling others required a lot of concentration and in most cases being alone. He looked at the two demons, thinking out the possibilities. Audra had spoken so highly of the human that had joined their ranks and had even asked if she could incorporate her into their demon guard system if she decided to stay once they had all the information they needed from her. Audra had become almost older sister like to Hiromi. Taking over her mind and scaring her would do Audra no good. She would want the girl whole and in perfect working condition in order to join the rest of the team.

"I want you to collect all the demons in the castle that could mind control an individual." Kuronue finally told her, checking her off the list of possibilities. No. Audra would not harm Hiromi. "Gather them in the great hall. Takji, I'm going to need your help." With no further explanation, he raced back to his room. Fear leapt through him as he slammed the door to his own room open to find the room empty. Oh, he was going to kill whoever was playing with him.

Soon he had the entire castle searching for the human, his anger an almost tangible thing. He searched every dungeon, every attic, ever room. She was nowhere to be found. He was about to give up when he heard shouts coming from the stables. He turned and flew there, finding the place a mess. The two horses it had housed there were acting as if someone had just branded them. They were rearing and striking out with hooves. They bucked, kicked, and shook their heads.

Kuronue looked around carefully. He jerked his head up and flew up to the second level of the stables. He landed quietly on the wood, his eyes searching the dark, confined space. There it was again. He had heard a whimper that hadn't been a part of the horses or demons that had been hurt. He walked carefully forward, searching the darkness for the girl he knew had to be up there. He finally found her hidden behind a couple of barrels that were full of demon fruit like apples.

The demon slowly knelt in front of her, his hands clenching into fists as he took in her features. She was terrified, that part was obvious from the way she shrank into the corner she hid in. But besides that she was covered in blood that was not her own. She had a bruise on her face and her grey eyes were showing that her mind was only barely holding onto sanity.

Kuronue's heart crumpled. The demon, whoever it was, had forced the girl to watch as he controlled her body and made it do things that no human would have done—or at least that's what Kuronue decided the demon had done. The look of fear on the human's face tore at his heart, recusing him to rubble.

"My love," He whispered, his voice ragged from pain. Finally Hiromi looked away from the space she had been staring at since he had joined her. The battle over her body still raged on inside her. Slowly, Kuronue took out a pendant that he had always kept around his neck or in his hand. Grabbing her chin to keep her from looking away, he started to swing the pendant, moving it fast and faster until it was but a blur. The human struggled at first, but soon lost the struggle as her mind was caught by the hypnotic abilities of the pendant. Her eyes closed and she slumped where she sat. Kuronue picked her up and slowly took her back to her room. He would get the report of what had happened in time. 

_She walked through the halls of the demon castle. She had a knife in hand and didn't care what anyone thought of it. She moved slowly into a room off the hallway silently. No matter what she did she couldn't stop herself from moving over to one of the cribs that sat there. Whatever was happening, she couldn't keep herself from raising the knife and striking out at the baby demon that lay there, little dog tail flicking as it slept peacefully on. She screamed but no words came from her mouth. She tried to turn away—to call for help. Instead her body just moved on to the next of the five cribs where a small girl with white dove like wings that curled around her slept. _

"_You have no choice now," came a cool, male voice inside her mind. "You were so easy to control. No one will ever believe that you didn't do this on purpose. They'll kill you and you'll never go home." _

_The words echoed as she tried over and over to keep it from happening. The girl died and then another girl with a fish like tail, then a boy with no visible demonic traces except for two long tattoo like markings on his cheek, and last of all a wolf boy. Each time she screamed louder and louder, trying to get someone else's attention. They had to stop her! She finally was done with the babies and she felt her body return to her control. Blood was splattered over her clothes and face and hands. _

_Hiromi tried to save them. She tried until all that was left was the vague sense that she had done a horrible thing and that she had to get out of there before anyone found out. _

_She ran. She ran all the way to the stables where she tried to seek comfort from the horses, but they balked from the smell of demon blood and began to act insane at the smell. They drove her up to the stable lofts where she cried and tried to understand what she did. Then she looked up into the dark purple-blue eyes that belonged to the man she was starting to love…_

Blue-grey eyes opened slowly to stare up at the ceiling of her room. Tears fell down her face as she remembered the lives she had snuffed out. She never would have done that. She couldn't have could she? And yet when she looked around she saw that there was indeed blood on her kimono and hands that were gently being washed off by Takji. Numb from shame and shock at the reality of her dream, she turned away and let the woman finish her job.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Hiromi paid her apologizes to the parents of the children that had been killed with Kuronue standing behind her for comfort and to make sure that they didn't act upon their grief then and there. Then she went quietly from the rooms and walked through the halls like a ghost, her mind being dragged back to the fact that she had killed five innocent demon children. No matter where she went that fact stayed with her. No matter what Kuronue said, the fact was there to keep her from forgetting for long.

Eventually she found herself under constant guard by one of the group she had come to know over the months. She smiled bitterly at that whenever she was able to notice. She couldn't control herself any longer. A small part of her told her that this was what happened to humans that messed with demons. If she wasn't careful she would lose all her humanity again and maybe kill more.

A week passed and then another. Soon the November month changed into December and they found themselves nearing the New Year. They had yet to find the demon that had taken over the young human, and Kuronue was getting angry over that. Hiromi kept to her room or the stables. She gave information when she was asked and then remained quiet the rest of the time. She was so cold to the girl demons that protected her that she soon lost the place in their ranks that she'd come to love. She had pulled so far from Kuronue that he worried that she would never speak directly to any of them again.

It was New Year's Eve when he finally came up with a way to get her out of the misery that had taken over. He had just returned from a mission where he'd run into a woman that was specialized in healing broken minds. The demon had suggested several things that might help him get to her and make her realize that she was not truly at fault for the deaths and that she could learn to shield herself. The demon also knew where he might find the demon that had taken over the human's mind, though when he had gotten there they had only caught one of the demon's subordinates.

When he returned from the mission he'd been on, he held in his hand a pair of earrings for the young woman he hated to see like a zombie. Kuronue moved to her room first and then to the stables when she wasn't there. He found her galloping in a circle on the male horse bareback. She was bent low over the shoulder of the horse, arms wrapped around his neck as he flew over the ground in a circle.

When Hiromi looked up from the horse's neck, she noticed Kuronue on the other side of the stable, watching her with wonder. She waited until they were nearer Kuronue before she let herself slip off the horse. She rolled on the dust flower until she was sitting in front of Kuronue. She looked up at him and tilted her head. She didn't smile much anymore, even when she was riding her horses.

"Is it time for a new name my lord?" She asked as she pushed herself up into a standing position as the horse came over and rested next to her breathing hard from the gallop.

"No Hiromi, it isn't. You have a few extra days before we are in need of a new target. No, I came because I found these for you. I don't know if you wear ear drops, but I saw these and thought you might like them," Kuronue told the woman as he stepped forward and held the jewelry.

Hesitantly Hiromi took them and examined them. From a small chain a moon and a star hung, one on each earing. She hesitantly reached up and felt her ears. She could wear ear-drops. At least she used to be able to. Without ceremony she shoved one brutally through the half-closed hole in her right ear. She winced, but kept pushing. The pain was just one of the ways she could make it up to the children that she had killed. She could never be happy because of what she'd done.

Before Kuronue could yank her hand away, she shoved the other earring into its own hole in her left ear. But then he smiled, as if he knew he shouldn't have thought anything else would have been done. She could feel it the second it set it. It had felt like the voice that had taken over her mind all that time ago. But at the same time there was a different tone to it. Her spirit energy shook within her in a pleasant way.

Hiromi's eyes went blank for a moment, as they had when she'd been taken control of before. But this time when they gained focus again, it was not another demon controlling her, but her own surprise that took control of her face.

"What are these Kuronue?" she whispered. The woman had not felt his light in ages it seemed. The worries about being controlled again were gone. She wasn't ready to accept what she had done to the children in her controlled state, but she realized that it hadn't been 100% her fault. The realization hit her like a physical blow. She reached up and held onto the dangle from her right ear as she looked up at Kuronue.

"They are earrings that are supposed to heal the mind. They are also supposed to make the wearer immune to mental control." Kuronue said quietly, aware that the horse had moved away to the stables where a horse demon beckoned, giving them complete privacy.

Hiromi's eyes welled up with tears that she'd kept in the whole time. She launched herself at Kuronue and wrapped her arms around him. She hid her face in his chest as her shoulders shook, hiding the sobs that tried to wrench free from her body. Kuronue drew her close with firm arms, his back wings shifting so that they shielded her from view of anyone coming up behind them.

"It was all my fault that they died Kuronue." She wept. When she couldn't get any more tears to fall, she sniffed and released him only to find that he did not release her. She wiped her nose where a teardrop hung on the back of her hand before looking up at Kuronue. He was looking at her like she was some crazy idiot that he'd found in his arms. Her stomach tightened in anxiety.

"It wasn't your fault Hiromi. It may have been your body, but it wasn't your fault."

"It was too! I should have had some kind of mental barrier! Instead a demon got in without a single fight." Hiromi objected, shaking her head as she slowly found herself resting her body back against Kuronue's when he refused to let her go. It was comforting, though she didn't think that she'd ever make up for what she did to those five children.

Kuronue hesitated. It was true that Koenma should have taught her some mental blocking powers while she was his spy but he couldn't let her think it was all her fault either. He simply let the girl rage about it as he held onto her, smoothing down the hair that had tangled during her ride.

When she took a breath to continue her self-bashing tirade which hadn't stopped when she'd rested back against him, he pulled a bit away and lifted her chin with two fingers and put a gentle kiss right on her lips. The words slid away in the presence of a kiss that demanded all her attention. It wanted her to give herself to it so much that she almost lost track of what was going on.

Soon Kuronue had backed the girl up to one of the indoor riding ring walls, his left hand going to support the back of her neck as he kissed her. When he pulled away for a breathe, the girl that was looking up at him had forgotten what she had been about to say. It was as if she had lost all interest in the past and wanted to focus on the future. Kuronue couldn't help but smile down at her, receiving a smile in return. He could have flown at the sight of a smile from the young human. Hiromi hadn't smiled since she had received her horses two months before.

"You are so beautiful when you smile Hiromi." Kuronue said to her, his eyes dancing with an emotion Hiromi could only read as being love. "I think you should smile more often."

"And I think that this is just a ploy to get me to forget what I did." She told him back, unable to meet his eye. She was blushing like a goon, embarrassed and yet so pleased with the experience.

Before they could speak anymore however a soft cough interrupted them. They peaked out from behind Kuronue's bat wings to find Audra smiling wolfishly at them, her head tilted to the side.

"Before you two return to … whatever it was that you were doing, might I remind Lord Kuronue that you have Him to deal with?" Audra asked, raising a thin eyebrow artfully. "Yoko wanted to know also if Lady Hiromi wanted to witness the little worm give up the name of the demon that had her under his control. His words not mine. I would say… Little worm that needs to be squished, squashed, brought back, and then squashed in the most painful way ever." Throughout this little speech she held a cheerful note to her voice.

Hiromi's heart leapt in her chest and she looked up at Kuronue. She frowned and hit him in the arm. "Why didn't you tell me you had someone that could tell us?" she demanded.

"Because I was slightly side tracked by a beauty with earrings that are so beautiful on her?" Kuronue offered up in defense with a smile. Hiromi couldn't help but let a small half smile onto her face before she looked at Audra.

"Yes, thank you, I would be most pleased if I am allowed to witness this." Hiromi told the other woman before leaving the shelter of Kuronue's arms and wings and went to her demon friend. She hesitated and looked back. "So are you coming?" It was a tease, a sign that she was going to try and have a good time, even if she still felt that it was entirely her fault. Her mind reminded her that she was still at fault, but… It was different than that. It was as if for the first time in the month that had passed she was able to see more clearly. She reached up and touched the earrings that dangled from her ears.

Kuronue smiled and nodded, following them to the dungeons. Despite wanting to be there when they discovered the name, the young woman could only handle a few minutes of the torture. They peeled away pieces of skin when she finally gave up on watching. She stood out in the corridor, listening to the screams, her arms wrapped tightly around her in a self-hug that was supposed to warm her up but failed. Audra came out around then and stood next to her silently.

"You must find me incredibly weak for not being able to watch that." Hiromi said after a long scream died away.

"No. In you, Hiromi, it means that you are not the creature you seem to think you are. You cannot stand to see suffering. If that isn't proof that you didn't kill those children I do not know what else there is. Besides that however, Kuronue has invited you a private dinner this evening in his chambers. He requests that you wear something beautiful if you do intend to accompany him," Audra told her with a small smile. "I'll come back to your room with you. Night is tired and cannot seem to keep herself awake long enough for her own duties right now." 

That evening Hiromi found herself standing just outside Kuronue's room, making sure that her kimono was straight and proper. The kimono was cut at her thighs and had matching pants for her legs. The set was a black with intricate blue and grey waves along the trim. It was held closed by a white sash. She wore her hair up in a braided bun right behind her right ear. It was held up with two white decorative hair sticks. She wore the earrings and the flower necklace as adornments. Her feet were adorned in blue slippers. She had even conceded to Audra putting light tan lip paint on. Her eyelids were painted with blues, greys and blacks that moved along the outer edge of her eyes and created to perfect circles at the sides of her eyes.

Nibbling her lower lip, she reached up and knocked on the door as Audra gave her a smile of encouragement and left her there so that Kuronue wouldn't be distracted from the beauty that stood in front of him. Instead of Kuronue opening the door however, a servant did and ushered her in before leaving with an empty tray.

Inhaling softly, Hiromi surveyed the room. Kuronue was yet to show himself so she felt like she could explore a little. She moved around the room and looked at his book case first before moving to where their dinner was, steam raising from the food. It looked delicious to her though she looked away so she wouldn't be tempted to try a piece of the cake that sat on the table for desert.

She was inspecting a piece of art on the wall when a door behind her opened and she turned to tilt look at the man coming in. At first he didn't notice her. He was fixing his own clothes and making sure that he was ready for her arrival. His pendant hung around his neck, marking him, along with this bat wings, as Kuronue. When he looked up, he froze as his eyes locked on the girl. She watched him stare at her before she cracked a smile and moved to the table.

"So what is the occasion?" She wanted to know, moving to point at the wine that was laid out for them to drink rather than a simple jug of water. He grabbed for words, though he seemed to be stuck at staring at her. When he blinked a few times, Hiromi couldn't help but laugh. "Really, Kuronue, you will swallow flies if you do not close your mouth." His mouth shut and he shook himself out of the daze he had been in.

Moving around, he pulled out her chair for her and smiled. "The occasion? It is to be the New Year in less than 4 hours. I thought perhaps that you might enjoy staying up and making a wish for the New Year," He explained as she slipped into the seat. The bat demon poured some wine before he sat down and took a quick sip of his own to make sure he wouldn't croak when he spoke next.

Hiromi slowly took a sip of her wine, tasting it on her palate before swallowing it slowly. It was rather good. She took another sip. She smiled and looked at the food before her.

"Thank you Kuronue, I much appreciate it. I had forgotten that it's been almost six months since you brought me here," Hiromi said as she reached out and started to fill her place discretely with different foods.

They spoke. They drank. They talked about the human world and demon world. Hiromi slowly started to talk looser. Eventually music started and Kuronue swept her up into a dance which led them to flop onto the bed with Hiromi prying off one of her slippers to massage where Kuronue had stepped on her big toe. They were laughing however, so there wasn't much wrong with her besides a bruise. When the laughter died down, their eyes locked. Demon eyes met humans and all boundaries were dropped. Liquor made it easier for Hiromi to slip into his bed with him and for her to find herself 'deflowered' by a man that was so gentle she hardly felt anything but pleasure. 

Hiromi awoke the next morning to find herself nestled gently into the crook of his arm, her back pressed solidly against his chest. She yawned and turned over to stare up at the demon. The memories of the night before flooded back and she blushed. She wasn't going to regret having made the decision though. The way they had acted the night before had left her without enough energy to dream about the children as she had every night since she'd been taken over. She had taken a sleep that had not pained her to sleep through.

Kuronue was still asleep, though his arms snuck out to grab her and bring her closer to his body again. He cracked an eyelid sleepily to make sure that she was still there before he dozed off again. Hiromi giggled a little and relaxed against him with more love in her than she ever thought was possible. "I wish that we find a life together somewhere, sometime and are happy with all our friends." She whispered when she noticed that it was morning. Time for New Year's Wishes.

* * *

><p>Note from Author: All right folks, WARNING, there are only going to be two more chapters for this fan fiction. BUT, I will remind you that there is a sequel to this story! Now there are two titles that I am leaning towards, but I want to know what you all think:<p>

1 : What is Love

2 : A Human's Bat Rose

Please either private message me your choice, OR leave your choice in a review.  
>Don't worry folks, everything WILL be settled (to a point) in the next two chapters. ;3<p>

-ROSEY


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

After that night with Kuronue things changed from how they had been since the Possession. Hiromi put all her effort into finding whatever she could on the demon that had taken over her mind. She used the library to research ways to block her mind from further incursions while Audra told her if she was successful or not. They had not yet found the demon that had entered her mind. Kuronue suggested that he had gone underground now that his underling had been caught.

Hiromi found herself spending more and more time with Kuronue when he was home than she had at any point before. She found silence and acceptance in his presence and many times they were seen sitting next to each other working on separate things in a silence that wasn't uncomfortable. Their nights turned that silence into passion however as Hiromi finally moved from her small twelve by twelve room to sleep in the same room as Kuronue which was easily a palace compared to her own.

Yoko and Hiromi had made a peace and sometimes could even be found working together to improve the garden which had been hit hard during the winter despite the shield that Night had put up to protect everyone. Yoko no longer looked at her like she was a nice piece of meat that he wished he could take advantage of. They bonded in a friendly way and worked hard to make the garden into something that could be smiled upon once again.

There had been one incident when a demon, who had thought since she let Kuronue touch her that Hiromi's rule that she was not to be touched by any demon had been lifted. When Kuronue had found her fighting off the attacker, he had waited until the girl had beaten back the demon and they had both noticed before he did anything. What he did had shocked everyone of the castle. It had also shocked Hiromi who had never thought about even considering herself what he called her. He had calmly called all the demons under Yoko and him to the Great Hall. Then he called Hiromi, who had been standing off to one side where she normally stood when they gave a speech which wasn't too often thankfully, to come stand in front of him. She did, giving him a look that was both questioning and a warning. She had thought she'd done a pretty good job in getting the demon to release her and understand that she still wasn't to be bothered. Maybe even if Audra had been there she would have complemented the girl.

Once the girl was standing in front of Kuronue, he turned her to face the demons, her bewilderment plain on her face. Then he linked his arms around her waist and pulled her back so that she was solidly against him. His voice was icy even to Hiromi's ears.

"I will only say this once, so all of you listen very closely. This woman is my mate. Should _anyone_ dare touch her, or even think about giving her a hard time during her stay here, I will personally see that you get some of the worst torture that has ever been given out." He stated, loudly and clear to even the demons in the back could hear. They could not say if they were caught that they had not heard the warning in his voice that day.

Hiromi had been taken aback by the term mate. It was serious business when one demon declared anyone to be his mate. It was a title as much as a privilege. It was like a man calling a woman his wife or a woman calling a male her husband. It was a binding between two individuals that went deeper than mere marriage. Anyone that tried to mess with Hiromi now could expect swift judgment set down upon them not only from Hiromi herself but from Kuronue.

Without meaning to, the young woman had, she realized, become the mate to one of the most powerful demons in the vicinity. They slept together, they dined together, he gave her gifts and she unabashedly loved the silly bat demon for all his silliness. She had shuddered at that iciness in his voice and shifted closer to the warmth of his body. He had hugged her tighter. Later that evening he admitted that seeing her fight off an attacker had chilled his blood and he had not wanted anyone else to mess with her. He made her being his mate official that night in bed by leaving a small but deep cut on her shoulder that was in the form of a bat in flight. This would mark to anyone that she was mated to someone he said.

By the time that April rolled around, Hiromi had a new worry to fill her mind. She was running out of the information on demons. She had used the demons that she knew the most about in the beginning to prove her worth and was now coming down to the demons she knew the least about. She knew less and less about what their hide outs looked like and said more and more 'I don't know about that's. She knew that Kuronue would not simply kill her when she was of no use. No one that claimed a mate would ever get rid of that mate unless it was for more important reasons (adultery, or worse, attempted murder). But the human liked feeling wanted and needed in a world where humans were normally just slaves, or, worse, food.

She made the mistake of mentioning it to Yoko while she was helping him position a rose bush without getting hurt by the thorns. Since Kuronue had taken her as his mate, Yoko had been far kinder to her, as if by being Kuronue's mate it had opened a door in Yoko's heart for Hiromi. She almost felt a brotherly love come from him when he smiled and joked to her some times. Hiromi felt that she could trust the demon to tell her the truth and not sugar coat anything, as Kuronue liked to do when she worried.

"Yoko, I just don't know what I'll do with myself once I run out of information. I mean, I can always start spying again if Kuronue would let me out of the castle long enough. But until we have that demon that took over my mind, Kuronue's sworn that he's not going to let me out of sight of himself, you, or one of the girls." Hiromi complained, wincing as a thorn stabbed her in the thumb. She pulled her hand away and sucked on the thumb gently, cleaning the wound of blood before wrapping it in a piece of her kimono she was wearing.

"I'm sure that a resourceful human as you will find some way to help." Yoko said with a soft chuckle. He had found the human annoying when he first met her (possibly because she'd stabbed him), but as he saw how she treated the flowers and plants around her, he had lightened a bit. When Kuronue had made her his mate, Yoko had almost felt obliged to feel like an older protective brother to the girl. He was far more aware of the eyes that followed the human girl around the castle than Kuronue had been since he had been one such pair before Kuronue made his intentions known.

Hiromi was about to comment when some instinct that had grown from the time she'd gotten the mate mark told her that Kuronue was about to show up. She couldn't hide the glow as she turned to watch him exit the castle in a leisurely way as he made his way down to them. He greeted Yoko before kissing Hiromi on the forehead.

"Hey Yoko, are you done moving this bush?" Kuronue asked as his left arm snuck around Hiromi's waist and pulled her close to him as he turned his eyes to his best friend.

"Not yet. You can't have Hiromi until I'm done though. She is one of the best helpers I've had since I've started this garden and I'm going to take full advantage of that good help." Yoko demanded, putting fists up in a mock challenge though he laughed and grinned as he said it.

"No, actually I need you my friend." Kuronue said with a laugh. He only took jokes about taking advantage of the girl from Yoko because he knew that Yoko wouldn't ever try anything. "I just heard that there was a juicy little mirror made of gold in a jungle shrine not too far from here. There is apparently going to be fewer guards this weekend because the priestess that normally guards it and prays there is going to be traveling to another shrine." The glee at the idea of a challenge was unmistakable in the demons voice. Up until this point they had been going into places knowing almost everything up to the shoe size of the demon they were facing. This would be unknown, a challenge and one that was long awaited.

Yoko smiled impishly and nodded. "I'll finish moving this plant with Hiromi and then meet you in the planning room my dear friend." He told Kuronue. He too had been itching for a new challenge and this was going to be a killer one.

Hiromi listened quietly before helping Yoko move the plant to where they had intended to place it. All the while she thought about the shrine, trying to think of anything that might be useful. Nothing popped into mind. A pit opened under her stomach however and she found herself wanting to keep Kuronue around for a few more days. She followed them to the planning room and watched their plans.

"When will you leave?" Hiromi asked after a few hours of planning had taken place. The two demons exchanged looks and mumbled a few things before deciding. They would leave the day after tomorrow they told her. Hiromi watched the two with the eyes of an early spring storm left over from winter. She did not believe them. They both had the gleam of young children being let out to play after a long, dull winter in their eyes and they were far chattier about plans than they had since the first time she had ever given them a name and information all those months ago.

The feeling in her stomach grew to become a gaping hole; a hole that threatened to engulf her and the rest of the world. She rose from the chair and moved off, leaving them to plan until she knew just what was happening in her. She changed into some workout clothes and joined Night, who looked better than she had after she'd stopped guarding the castle, in fighting practice. It hit her just as Night struck her stomach. She didn't want either of them to go. She had one of those feelings that demanded her attention and yet she knew that she could never convince them not to go. It was too nice a treat. It was hanging a piece of juicy steak before a tiger and telling it not to eat.

But she would try. She went to change into other clothes, but stopped when she saw that Kuronue was taking a nap on the bed. She paused and watched him. She couldn't help but smile. She had never been one for naps, but watching him take one then was like watching a piece of heaven that had decided to give her its presence. She was surprised that he could relax enough to take a nap.

Instead of waking him, she changed into one of her kimonos and then left to find Yoko. Maybe she would be able to convince him. Hiromi never made it to Yoko's room however. Her hand stopped when she heard the tell-tale noises that Yoko was entertaining one of the nurses again. She smiled, rolled her eyes and walked away without disrupting the strange demon.

She found herself in the stables playing with her horses when that instinct once more reared its head and told her that Kuronue was watching her from the shadows of the barn. At times like these, Hiromi wondered if Kuronue had these feelings as well, or if it was just her and her high spirit energy. She continued to work, pretending to not notice the demon as she cleaned her stallion.

"You know, I could get you more horses and you could create a breeding farm here if you chose. That would give you something to do when you run out of names." Kuronue said from the stall door as he watched her.

Hiromi winced. She had not wanted Kuronue to hear of her worries. She finished with the horse and turned to look at him over the stall door. She put her tools away on the shelves and went to the door to join him. She hoped up to sit on the stall door so that she was eye level with Kuronue. Hitting a switch on the outside of the stall the back wall of the stall opened up allowing the horses to go out into a small pasture that had been created just for them to run and eat to their hearts content, Hiromi turned to look at Kuronue.

"I don't want to just stay in this castle forever you know. I want to be out doing what I was trained to do. Spy, work with you and Yoko, in the field." Hiromi told him, though she saw the look that Kuronue gave her that screamed that he wouldn't put her in that kind of danger. "Oh come now Kuronue, I was in that kind of danger for almost three years before you caught me and that's just because I was being careless."

"But you still got caught. I don't want you to be hurt my rose." Kuronue told her as he picked her up off the door and brought her to stand in front of him like a small child. That was one thing that Hiromi didn't like. Being almost two feet shorter than the demon, she either felt like a doll next to him or a small child.

This was a conversation better saved for a time when they didn't have other matters to settle—like the upcoming mission they were going on. Hiromi shrugged and gave the look as if she were already forgetting about spy work. "I don't think you should go on that little heist you guys were planning." Hiromi said finally, turning to watch the horses once more over the stall door.

It did not work though. Every idea she used Kuronue shot down with logical answers on how he'd get out of this trap or that trap, or what would happen if he was hurt. Eventually she gave up and decided that she was just going to have to live with the worry that was plaguing her—for that was what the pit in her stomach was she realized. Outrageous worry that would not settle down. She kept at him though, just so she could say she hadn't been beaten. She liked to win arguments against Kuronue, even if he purposefully let her win. At least she could say this fight was a challenge. Their debate didn't end until that night when passion overtook worry and they embraced one another in the passion filled embrace only lovers offered one another.

The next morning Hiromi awoke to find a note next to her. It was as she suspected when they'd said they were going away the day after tomorrow.

_Dear Human Rose,_

_We decided that leaving this morning early would return me to your side all the sooner and I would not be delayed by you begging us not to go. I understand you worry and I want to you know that I love that you worry. Too many humans would let the idea of being demons equates to being invincible, but you, you my precious, have always been too clear minded for that. We will return in three weeks. Keep safe,_

_Kuronue. _

Hiromi laughed at the note and got up and went about her day. The next three days became worse when she suddenly found herself visiting the privy almost every morning. She didn't let anyone know until Takji had walked in on her one morning to ask if she could be taught how to ride a horse. Takji had seemed a bit too delighted at seeing Hiromi bent over the toilet. Hiromi did not know why. She had put the vomiting up to having eaten something bad, or the worry that constantly knotted her stomach as she waited for Kuronue to return safely.

It was closing in on the date of Kuronue's return when Audra came to visit her in Kuronue room after a vomiting filled morning. Audra found the woman sitting on her bed, breathing through her mouth to try and calm her stomach. Audra too had a smile on her face that was a bit too much like delight as she watched the poor girl.

"We were you ever spoken to of what happens when one is with child?" Audra asked softly as she leaned against a wall across from Hiromi. She let the words sink into the human before continuing. "One of the signs is called morning sickness. Some people get it in the morning, some at other times. I've noted also that you've been avoiding our beans as well. Another sign that one is pregnant is that some foods make the woman nauseous. With me, I could not abide beans for the first three months."

Hiromi sat on the bed, staring up at the demon that seemed so kind to be explaining why she was sick in such frank of terms. But at the same time her mind spun. Wait until Kuronue found out that he was going to be a father! Her heart gave a sudden lurk as a feeling of despair that seemed to have no place in this news ran over her spin and her shoulder where the scar of a bat seared her skin. She gasped and launched herself to the bathroom just in time to launch another wave of vomit down the toilet. This time she was not alone. Audra came in and rubbed her back and helped her through the pain of expelling all that was in her stomach.

From that moment forward, Hiromi knew something was wrong. Kuronue must have gotten hurt. Her body screamed it whenever she brought herself to think about Kuronue, which was almost every moment. How would she tell him that she was with his child? Would it be a girl or a boy? Would it inherit bat wings like its father or would it look more human with a high spiritual power and hidden demonic traits?

She was researching such things as half-demons in the library when Yoko found her, three days after she'd found out that she was pregnant and not just sick. The door closed behind him before Hiromi knew he was there. She jumped and laughed, looking over at Yoko as her racing heart calmed.

"Oh Yoko, I'm glad you are back! I have wonderful news though you'll have to wait to hear it after I tell Kuronue. He should be the first to know." She said, giddy that they were back. She turned to return the book she held to its place so she could go streaking through the halls looking for her mate, her lover, the father of her child.

"Hiromi," Yoko said softly. That wasn't what got her attention though. What caught her attention was the note of despair in his voice, as if he'd lost someone very close to him recently, which didn't make any sense. She paused in putting the book back and looked at Yoko.

"Hiromi, Kuronue, he… He dropped his pendant when we were escaping. He went back to get it. You know how stupid he is about that thing. Never let it out of his sight. Almost like he did with you when he was around." Yoko said, choking at that. Tears formed in his eyes though he refused to let them fall. He was too manly for tears.

"No." Hiromi said, putting the tears together with what was left unsaid. She tore past him and ran to Kuronue's room. He wasn't there. She refused to believe it. She ran to the stables and searched there and then the castle's infirmary. Nowhere could she find Kuronue. Finally she turned to go to the garden, but found Yoko in her way. He put cold hands on her shoulders and met her eyes which were starting to tear up as his had done in the library. They had a silent understand as Hiromi lost control and began to weep in the arms of Yoko, who cradled her close.

Kuronue was not coming home. He had been killed in the escape.


	13. Chapter 13

Epilogue

_9 months later—New Year's Eve—Human World_

"Come on dear, push!"

The words meant little to the human girlt aht was in the grips of labor. Her mind screamed for the demon that should have been there to welcome the child into the world. But instead of calling out Kuronue's name as her heart did, Hiromi screamed and pushed the child from her womb.

She could have been doing this with Audra, Night, and the other female demon's that had taken care of her during her stay with the demons. Yoko had offered her an indefinite stay at the castle. Hiromi had taken him up on the offer for the first month, but Kuronue was everywhere that she looked. She saw him in everything she did too. So Hiromi had chosen to return home to human world.

She had weaved a tale for her frantic mother of having run to a nearby town to get away from the marriage. On her way there she was taken by bandits and forced to serve them. She alluded to the use of her body against her will but did not go into detail until she began to visibly show her pregnancy. By this time it was too late to abort the child.

A scream broke through her remembrance—the only thing that kept her from passing out in pain. The scream had not come from her own lips either. She opened her eyes that were tired and looked down between her legs to see if something bad had happened. Lying there, the child bawled softly as its first breathe was taken. It hadn't been it that had made that ear piercing scream either.

Hiromi saw the midwives and her mother draw back from her and the child. She knew why they did it though. On the back of the child, small bat wings fluttered. She was a half-demon.

Despite the bone weary tiredness that plagued her form the hours of labor she had endured, Hiromi reached down and picked the little girl up. Cradling it to her breast as she let if feed, she looked up and snarled like a mother bear when her mother tried to take the little beauty away from her.

"Hiromi, give me that demon spawn this instant. It is going into the first spring I see so it will not destroy our family!" the older woman demanded. She was used to her daughter doing what she told her when she told it and did not like being refused.

Hiromi simply looked up at her mother with the gaze of a mother no longer cowed by others that thought they knew better than she. She found it almost amusing that this woman was trying to intimidate her into letting her child be killed—letting Kuronue's child be drowned. Kuronue had been more intimidating on his nice day then this woman who was trying to kill her only reminder of Kuronue.

"You land a hand on this child and I will eat your hand." Hiromi threatened.

Her mother was about to argue, but paused and stared up at the door that was behind Hiromi as it slid open. She muttered a quick prayer and backed away from the young human and half-demon girl. Hiromi did not let her gaze move from her mother's face. Her spirit energy that had gone almost completely silent after her return to the human world sung as the six demonic energies entered the room. She knew all of them very well by this point.

The familiar shape of a black spider crawled to sit on her left, glaring at the humans in the room. A silver fox with golden eyes came to sit on the woman's other side. The noise of demons unsheathing swords was distinct to the women in the room as there was complete and utter silence in the birthing room.

Audra came into view and knelt in front of the newly made mother. With quick and practiced hands, she cut the umbilical cord and finished things off 'down there'. She finished the job in silence though she did smile up at Hiromi, a knowing glint in her eyes. The humans pulled away from Hiromi who was so calmly dealing with demons and those demons being in a very defensive mood.

Yoko stepped forward in his fox form, gold eyes sparling. Human words came from his mouth when he opened it.

"Either you will accept the child into the household, or we will take lady Hiromi of the Bats with us and you will never see your daughter or your granddaughter again. She will live with us where she will be treated like a queen—not some woman that was taken advantage of by one of us." He didn't have to explain that the 'us' was demons.

"You can take that demon whore!" Hiromi's mother said, cowering in the corner, as far from the demons as she could possibly get. No sooner had those words left her lips, the group was gone—woman, daughter, and demons. The only thing that remained to remind the household that a woman had just given birth was the dirty birthing clothes on the ground where Hiromi had lain.

_Present Day Japan. Home town of Hiromi of the Bat's, now a small town on the outskirts of a forest, two hours out from Tokyo. _

"Mama, why are we here?" came the voice of a young half demon girl. She was carrying a bag on her back as they flew through the air over the town below, circling it. Their bat wings were glinting in the sunlight as they flapped to keep themselves aloft. Her mother was obviously looking for something.

The older of the two, a young looking woman of 206 years, looked at the town, her eyes searching for the one house that would be their new home. Her black-blue eyes were a mix from her father and mother. When she looked at her own daughter though, she saw an exact replica of her mother from a picture she had seen that her father, Kuronue of the Bats as he was called, had commissioned as a mating gift for her mother, Hiromi of the Bats. In fact, though Hika didn't know it, she was the reincarnation of her grandmother Hiromi.

"This is where I was born, and our new home since Yoko has been turned into a human and left the thieving group." Tylia told her daughter before dropping to the ground near an old mansion. Hika dropped next to her and looked around like a bored teenager looking a very uninteresting piece of land.

"Why couldn't we have stayed in demon world though? We'll have to bind our wings to fit in here." Hika said with a pout. She was very unwilling to admit her curiosity of Human world. Night, an old demon friend of her mothers and grandmothers, had told her stories of the day Tylia had been born that had both stunned and intrigued the young half-demon.

"Because there is someone here we must re-awaken. Lord Yoko said he'd sensed him here." Tylia instructed as she pushed open the doorway into the old style Japanese home. It had been abandoned after her mother had been spirited away by Yoko and the others. Despite this, the place was spotless and the reason for this popped up in front of Tylia to give her a hug.

"You two are finally here! Look at this place. So much better than in Hiromi's day, I'll tell you!" cried Night as she bounced first from hugging Tylia to giving Hika a hug as well.

"Let the fun begin," said Takji, who had exited the shadows to smile at them impishly. "I'm sure Lord Kuronue will love to make our acquaintance again."

* * *

><p>Note from Author; Well my ducklings. This is the end. At least for this part of the story. I even threw in a little teaser for the next story, which has unanimously been decided to be <em>A Human's Bat Rose.<em> Please keep your eyes peeled for this. if I'm any good at my job, I will have the first chapter up by Friday, HOWEVER. This upcoming weekend is my brothers birthday so Imay not be able to post the first chapter until after the 22nd. :3 Please, I hope you had fun reading this. Love ALL my readers,  
>ROSEY<p> 


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